Vessel of the Golden Dragon
by Shin Aedra
Summary: Hoping to have a wish come true Naruto is granted great power. When he learns that he is the vessel of one of the most evil entities in the galaxy however, what sort of mayhem could he get into? Powerful Naruto. Eventually Godlike Naruto. Naruto x Karin. Rewrite in progress.
1. A Wish Comes True

**(AN: This story has been moved over from Naruto/X-overs. The story is currently being rewritten. The state of this version is being decided upon by the current followers. Until they have reached a decision this version's status will remain unchanged.)**

 **Hello everyone, this is Shin Aedra, formally Ares. The transfer has already been settled and VGD is resting in its new home. It feels different having to alter this, especially since I remember the funny dialogue me and Apollo had up in this Author Note section. Time changes things I guess. Well no need to be dwelling on it.**

 **I'd like to say hello once again to everyone new and old! Thanks for giving my story a chance. This story was originally posted January 31, 2016 back on the previous account. (AN: The story was moved over to this current account after the previous account was hacked. The lack of clarification for those unaware was due to the sensitivity of the issue at the time.) With eight chapters in all, it might not be much, but I put a lot of effort and work into it. Keep that in mind when you judge it. I do not pay attention to flames nor care about complaints that don't fully explain the problem the reader has with my story. I already know the grammar isn't to pare, trust me I currently editing all eight of them still. I want constructive criticism to aid me as a writer not trolling bits or flames.**

 **Getting that off my chest allow me to give a broader sense of what this story is about. This story follows the concept of something else sealed in Naruto. A bit cliché at this point, but hey I try to make the story different from the original. With eight chapters as of this re-publishing I will state that it is a slow progression in the beginning. I primarily focused on building the world and characters from the beginning. There are no OCs yet. There will be OCs but only when we reach original arcs that I've conceived for this story. They, of course, will not claim the spotlight from the main characters.**

 **The pairing is Naruto x Karin because I wanted something non-mainstream and because I've read some interesting stories that made me like this pairing. The pairing will have similarities to Minato and Kushina's relationship, but at the same time becoming something new in of itself. I'm not exactly skilled in romance but I'm giving it a shot. It will not be the primary focus at times, but it is still pivotal, so if you can give me any advice on how to go about it please don't hold back.**

 **This story was originally a Naruto/Godzilla crossover, however, over time I thought about the story and felt it would be further appropriate to place it in the Naruto/X-overs category to better categorize what this story truly is. (AN: This is no longer viable as the story is returning to the Godzilla/Naruto crossover section. Please disregard this statement.)**

 **I am an individual who attends college and works on the side. There could be delays to the story. As my oldest readers know. I try to post chapters as quickly as I can, but I can't keep any promise that a chapter will be posted as quickly as one, including myself, might prefer. Despite this, I hope you enjoy my story and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for giving my story a read!**

 **Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is a fan-based parody. Naruto belongs to TV Tokyo, Masashi Kishimoto, and Viz Media; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures. Please support the official release.**

* * *

 _"I have seen beyond the bounds of infinity and drawn down daemons from the stars. . .. I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness. . . "_ \- H.P. Lovecraft.

* * *

Chapter 1: A Wish Comes True...

It was another day in Konoha as the village was ever so busy on this mid-afternoon day. The merchants and tradesmen were busy in the market district as they tried to sell their products to the people who would gather. Liveliness and cheer could be seen in this area as the people came to and fro, to obtain goods that they either needed or didn't, so long as they got to see what was available today. This day was livelier that the rest, only for the fact that the upcoming festival was quickly approaching.

The streets were exceptionally busy as many people came from all corners of the Land of Fire to experience the Grand Lunar Festival. This was a time of fun and excitement, although not too much excitement obviously, which thanks to the patrolling shinobi policing the village making sure it was safe for the festival and its attendees. With so many people quickly massing as the day grew closer the amount of shinobi patrolling was increased as well as the rate of patrolling.

Everywhere someone looked it seemed the more anticipation for the festival was showing, after all this festival was one which made dreams come true. However, not all of the populace was busy getting ready for the festival, in fact one person in particular was about to get a surprise that he never would have expected. This lucky person was also currently getting chased by a group of chunin who were sent after him by orders of the Hokage.

Said person though was cleverer than they gave him credit for as he soon disappeared from their sights forcing them to all split-up in search of this person. Now you might be wondering who this clever person is I am sure, well perhaps clever isn't the right word when describing him, but rather unpredictable. Stepping out from the shadows of the nearby trees a young spikey blond-haired child smirked in amusement at his chasers' plight.

"That outta keep them off of my tail for a while." The child whispered in glee as he began to slowly emerge from the tree line. "Now to head on back before Iruka-sensei finds me."

"It's a little too late for that Naruto." A calm yet angry voice stated behind him causing Naruto to jump in fright.

"AHHHHHH! How'd you find me Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto demanded as he shook in slight terror as his teacher's gaze was set on him.

"Why it's because I am your teacher, and so I know you better than those shinobi." Iruka answered while crouching down to Naruto's level before pulling out some rope. "Now then why don't we get back to class and then we'll go see the Hokage about what you just did." Naruto was utterly terrified at how his teacher was smiling all the same while speaking to him. It was something that he had never came to enjoy and for good reason.

Within a matter of minutes Naruto was back in the Shinobi Academy and tied up in front of the class again. To say Naruto was having a good day was a little misleading, as it was fine until he got caught painting the Hokage Monument. "Now then since everyone is back and accounted for the class will continue as planned, and without any further incidents!" Iruka announced with the last part being directed towards Naruto.

Class for the most part was much like any other, with the class geniuses acceding praise while people who were like Naruto failed for the most part. Naruto had known for a while that because of his large chakra reserve that it would be difficult for him to do what others his age could do, so he would often stay after class and ask for the teacher's advice. Though that was when he didn't feel like pranking anyone afterwards though.

Today would be one of those few exceptions where he wouldn't be able to do either of the two after classes ended today, as he was a dead man walking so to speak, so once class ended Naruto didn't even bother getting up. Instead he waited for everyone to leave and for Iruka to wave him over to him before moving on to the Hokage's Tower.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Hokage's tower where they soon found themselves in the Third Hokage's office. The elder man just sighed as he knew that this wasn't the first instance where Naruto was called into his office. "Naruto would you care to explain why it was that you decided to deface the Hokage monument by painting on it." Sarutobi demanded as he inhaled the tobacco that was ignited in his pipe.

"Because one day I'm going to surpass each and every one of those guys as well as you old man once I become Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed getting a bit of a surprised look from both his sensei Iruka and the Third Hokage. "And when that day comes everyone in the village will yelling my name!" Iruka just face-palmed in response, while Sarutobi sighed.

"Naruto that does not give you an excuse to deface public property, especially one such as the monument." Sarutobi explained. "Normally if such a thing was ever done the person responsible would be sentenced to two years of community service as well as paying a fine of about 2,957,921.93 yen." Hearing the amount Naruto instantly felt the shock and paled because of it.

"Of course, seeing as how you are still a minor and I'm pretty sure that you don't want this information to reach certain individuals ears I'll give you another option." Sarutobi offered making Naruto quickly refocus to the elderly Hokage. "Instead you can clean up the monument that you have defaced, and you will have to assist the preparations of the Grand Lunar Festival that will begin in five days, the choice is yours."

Knowing that the latter was best option Naruto took it and soon found himself cleaning up the paint that was all over the Hokage monument. Besides that, way was much safer than what could happen if he took the former, and just thinking about it made him shutter, which had been noticed by the other two individuals in the room who knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I think I'll just take the last option." Naruto answered, and Sarutobi then took the paper that had the amount of yen as well as the punishment on it and crumbled it up and threw it away in the bin besides his desk.

"Very well Naruto, you will begin after class each day until the day of the festival, and I'll make sure that she doesn't hear a word about it, deal?" Sarutobi informed before confirming the deal between him and Naruto.

"Definitely a deal from me." Naruto answered.

"Then you may leave now, although Iruka could stay here for a couple more minutes I have the information revolving around this year's graduation." Sarutobi asked. Iruka nodded and not wanting to stick around, or rather he couldn't, Naruto made his way out of the Hokage's Tower and he headed towards the Hokage Monument.

Once up there he found that Iruka was already up there with a bunch of buckets and washcloths. Getting started by grabbing one of each Naruto just hoped that word hadn't gotten to the hospital yet about what he had done yet. 'I didn't even know how much my prank nearly cost them! I need to be more careful when doing pranks now otherwise I might know what it's like to fly.' Luckily for Naruto time was passing by rather quickly but to him he didn't even notice it until Iruka told him.

It had been two hours now and he still wasn't close to finishing, however, he was close to finishing the Third's head. The reason as to why he started on this one was because he knew that the old man didn't like what he had done to it and Naruto was not willing to risk anything that the old man could do. Even though Naruto knew that the Third Hokage wouldn't have done anything it was also sort of out of courtesy for the old man considering that he did run the entire village, which Naruto could only guess was hard considering how at times he noticed that Sarutobi was stressed out a lot of the time.

Naruto didn't have to look up to know that Iruka was watching him work; after all this is something that has happened before although just not in this situation. Iruka noticed that Naruto gave a quick glance up towards him before returning to work. "You don't leave here until every drop of paint is gone!" Iruka stated.

"So? It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me right now, and considering they're still working I won't probably get to see them until the day of the festival." Naruto muttered unintentionally loud enough so that Iruka could hear it.

Though Iruka didn't admit it he understood Naruto a lot more than the kid knew. He saw himself in Naruto a lot and knew how busy his guardians were, so Iruka decided to do something for his student. "Hey, Naruto, tell you what if you hurry up and finish I'll treat you to some ramen." This got Naruto's attention right away as he was quick to respond with an "OK", followed by an intense cleaning montage. Seeing how determined Naruto became after mentioning his favorite food Iruka could only chuckle at Naruto's antics.

'If only you were as enthusiastic with school, you might have even been able to give Sasuke a challenge.' Iruka thought to himself before thinking about his other student for a moment. He had heard about the recent event that transpired over there at the Uchiha clan district and hoped that his student was okay. Switching back to Naruto he noticed that he was now working on the Fourth's head and guessed that it wouldn't take long now.

Sure, enough due to the encouragement that was ramen Naruto had completely cleaned the Hokage Monument within just two more hours. This meant that it was right around dinner time and the perfect time to go and get something to eat. It didn't take long to get to the ramen stand and with that time flew by for both Naruto and Iruka as well as a good amount of Iruka's hard-earned money.

* * *

Several days have passed now and Naruto was all but exhausted. Having to setup multiple booths as well as placing decorations all around key areas of the village and having to help with the floats has taken its toll on the young boy as he was beyond tired. Looking around though Naruto did feel good about seeing how everything looks. "All that hard work really paid off, thanks again kid." One of men from the festival committee expressed his thanks. "To bad I can't pay you."

"It's no big deal, technically I'm the one who is to blame for that, but I will say that looking around it does look really good." Naruto stated to which the man agreed.

"Tell you what kid if you come back and help again next year I'll pay you pretty good considering how well you did this year." The man stated to which Naruto just grinned.

"Thanks, but that all depends on what I'll be doing next year seeing as how I plan on graduating from the academy this coming year." Naruto explained.

"Oh, then I wish you luck in your future career." The man stated before watching as Naruto got up to leave. Waving goodbye to the man as well as a few of the other guys who were there Naruto made his way homeward.

Tomorrow was the Grand Lunar Festival and Naruto needed to make sure that he had everything. He acquired a new orange and black kimono from a nice old man the other day and was now looking for something very specific, a glass orb that when held towards the moon will allow you to make one wish, so they say. It wasn't really guaranteed, and it was more for traditional purposes, and that it has been one the key parts of the festival.

Everyone receives their orb at some point in their life and usually when their chakra can be fully manipulated by another person, which is usually when they are very young. The orb itself is made from their chakra, as well as some of material of course, but it is made specifically for that one person. There are no duplicates even if someone has a twin, which makes them even more special.

The orb's purpose in the festival is meant towards the end of the festival when the crescent moon was at its highest peak in the night sky. Once it was there the orb would be held up in front of the person's eyes allowing them to hopefully see shooting stars and be able to have a wish granted.

If in the orb you spot three shooting stars your wish comes true, if you only see one two stars then you will have good luck until next year, and if you see only one then you will have bad luck until next year. It was rather simple and something that everyone does, as both shinobi and civilians alike all hope that they can see three shooting stars.

Naruto was heading towards the glassmakers to get his own orb, and hope that either he'll get good luck tomorrow night or even a wish. Though he knew the odds that a wish coming true were slim to none but considering no one has ever seen more than two stars through the same orb for over two hundred years there was always a possibility out there.

"I hope that the shop is still open because I don't want to wait until next year to see if I can get a wish." Naruto stated aloud, he tended to do that although he has been working on fixing that considering it wasn't wise to speak your mind so casually. "Maybe I'll get lucky this year and get some good luck it would really help improve my chances for this last upcoming year at the academy!"

Once he did reach the shop though his mood had seriously dropped. The reason being was because the shop's sign said closed and everything seemed to be locked up. Naruto couldn't believe his luck, he really wanted that orb, but now it seemed that he wasn't getting it this year. One of neighboring merchants who had been counting today's profits noticed Naruto and yelled out towards him. "Hey kid if your hoping to get your orb made your out of luck, the man who makes them has gotten ill and probably won't get better for the next couple days."

Naruto just felt that whatever hope that he could get an orb vanish and was instead replaced with a small amount of depression. "Is there anyone else in the village that can make my orb?" Naruto asked.

"Not unless you want to go to Tanzaku Town, there someone there but I doubt that you can make it there before they close up shop tonight and considering that tomorrows the festival no one's going to be open." The merchant answered.

Naruto was really hitting the dumps now but decided that he ruined his chances at getting his orb when he went and painted on the Hokage monument. Cursing himself Naruto decided to call it a day, but before he left he thanked the merchant before heading home.

Walking down the streets of Konoha was a bit crazy as it was the day before the festival and so Naruto took to the back streets where he could hope to make it to his house in time before it got to late. The thing was though that he couldn't help but notice all the families that were crowding the main streets. He wished that he had his parents, he had nothing against his guardians, but they weren't around as much as he wished they were due to their occupations.

Though when he did feel alone he always had a feeling that he wasn't. He didn't know why that was, but he always knew that there was always someone there watching out for him when his guardians couldn't. A guardian angel perhaps, although Naruto really didn't believe such things, perhaps someone who knew his parents.

The only reason Naruto figured this was because of an incident a couple years ago where he was supposedly apart of a tragic accident even though he couldn't quite remember it. The real part of the information that he did receive was that someone had saved him from dying before disappearing, since then he's always had that feeling. Whether he should be grateful or not he didn't know, only that he was glad to be alive. Quickly realizing that it was quickly getting dark Naruto decided to speed up heading home.

"Well better get going, no classes tomorrow so that means that I get to enjoy the festival all day long!" Naruto cheered as he raced home.

Not too far away a shadow danced across the walls before disappearing with its master. A dark figure was following Naruto, although out of sight where they wouldn't get noticed. The figure continued to follow Naruto and watched as he made it home safely before stopping. The dark cloak was wrapped firmly around the wearer's body concealing their identity.

Waiting for Naruto to get to his front door the figure began to shift around as their arm reached for something under their cloak. Taking the object out it was revealed that the person had pulled out a small box that was wrapped up. Looking back at Naruto who was busy speaking with the elderly landlord the figure jumped over towards Naruto's window. It only took a few seconds before they were finished with what they had intended to do and proceeded to leave the area without a trace.

Having just into his home Naruto decided to get something to eat when he thought he felt something familiar. Going to the source he entered his bedroom only to find it empty. "I swear if they turn out to be a stalker I'm going to the Hokage." Naruto stated before checking over his room one last time before shrugging and going back over towards his kitchen. Fully unaware that the small box was laying on his dresser that was adjacent to his bed.

That night Naruto had been busy trying to figure how to perform the standard clone jutsu. It was still one of the weakest of the few jutsu he knew, however, he wanted to get better at it so that he doesn't fall behind Sasuke anymore than he already has. "Ugh, why is this so hard?! Why do we even have to learn this stupid jutsu it's not even that great!" Naruto complained. Having had enough after two hours of trying to do the jutsu Naruto decided it was time to call it a night. "I'll just have to wait for him get back to the village before asking for some help with this jutsu."

After having a long day Naruto went and took a shower before heading off to bed. Once out of the shower Naruto was in his room getting into his pajamas and going through his closet. Getting his kimono out for tomorrow as well as some other articles of ceremonial clothes and objects Naruto doubled checked everything before finally heading off to bed.

Meanwhile the Third Hokage had just finished his paperwork when he finally felt the chakra signature disappear from the village. "Seems as though you still can't bring yourself to face the child." Sarutobi sighed as he brought his pipe up to his mouth so that he could inhale the smoke of the tobacco that was burning within it. "You're going to have to face him eventually, because eventually he will come take this position. Once he's done that you'll have no choice but to face him then."

It was then that knock resounded from his office door, and curious as to who it was at this hour Sarutobi spoke up, "Come in!"

Following the command the door opened to reveal another elderly man, but this one had a cane and a series of bandages covering up the right side of his face. Instantly recognizing his old rival Sarutobi eyed the man carefully as he made his way towards his desk. "Sarutobi." the man stated, it wasn't a greeting but rather it wasn't meant to be one.

"What is it Danzo, normally you wouldn't bother to come and see me so late unless it was urgent." Sarutobi stated.

"My reason is the safety and wellbeing of the village Sarutobi." Danzo countered. Danzo was serious it seemed and Sarutobi had hoped that whatever the man would be telling him would not cause him a serious headache.

"It must be important since you came when, so few people would be around." Sarutobi started. "This wouldn't be about asking for certain individuals to join 'root' now would it?"

"For once that will not be an issue tonight instead this will probably be the one night that I will not attempt any form of argument with you." Danzo answered. This got Sarutobi completely by surprise, although he didn't show it.

"How severe are we talking about Danzo?" Sarutobi questioned as he became gravely serious. Danzo took note of change and knew that the old Sarutobi he fought with was back in front of him.

"It will seem that we can no longer delay the inevitable, war will be coming soon, and it appears that we will no longer be able to stop it from happening." Danzo explained, Sarutobi instantly realized what Danzo was saying and didn't even need to hear the next few words to know what had just happened. "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has succumbed to death."

* * *

Having woken up Naruto knew today was the festival and couldn't wait. "Well since I can't get a wish I'll just have to enjoy today the best I can!" Naruto grinned as he grabbed his kimono and got ready to head out. As he was heading out of his room he finally noticed the small box on his dresser. "What the heck is this?"

Looking at it more carefully Naruto tried to open it, but for some reason he was unable to. "Why isn't this opening? It is a box, right?" Naruto asked aloud to no one in particular. Trying again Naruto noticed a note that had been underneath the small box. The note read as such: "Wait until the moon is at its highest and then open the box and you might get lucky!"

Confused at first Naruto just decided whatever and got dressed and stuffed the small box in his kimono's right pocket. Grabbing his wallet and apartment key Naruto began heading out of his apartment. Once outside he bumped into his landlord who was an elderly woman who greeted him. "Good morning Naruto, are you heading out to the festival already?"

"You can believe it, after all there's no academy classes today so that means I can have fun all day long!" Naruto expressed his joy to which the elder simply chuckled and waved him goodbye as she saw him off. Naruto was only a few blocks away from where the festival was being held at and he quickly made his way in that direction. Along the way he saw a bunch of people he recognized either from his class or from his "adventures" around the village.

There was so much to do at the festival Naruto didn't know where to start, but first thing first he needed to meet up with somebody before he could do anything else. Heading over to the most likely place where he could find this person it came to no surprise that he found them there.

Sitting in front of the Ladies Hot spring was an older man with long white spiky hair running all the way down his back. He was giggling as he was looking through a small peep hole in the wall. Naruto just sighed as he made his way over to the man, and without getting the man's attention Naruto stuck his right index finger in his mouth as to get his saliva on it and pulled it out.

Within seconds of doing so Naruto quickly stuck his lubricated finger into the older man's ear and yelled at the same time, "Stupid Ero-Sannin! Quit peeking!" The result, which Naruto was hoping for, was all to enjoyable.

The sudden wetness in his ear along with the sudden loud yelling that was right behind him caused Jiraiya to jump as he was surprised before angrily bopping his godson in the head. "What the hell GAKI! Why did you do that!" Jiraiya yelled back in annoyance.

Naruto just gave him a grin after rubbing his head. "How else was I going to get your attention, considering you were to busy starring at those ladies, or did you forget what today was?" Naruto grinned as he watched Jiraiya fidget with his ear. Jiraiya was still a little mad at his godson, but he shouldn't have let his guard down so, easily especially since she was still in the village.

However, not one to let something like this go Scott free Jiraiya decided to scold Naruto. "You still don't go and do what you just did to people! One of these days one of your pranks will tick off the wrong person and then what will do!?" Jiraiya berated as he tried drilling what he had just said into Naruto's thick head.

"I'll worry about it then, you got to learn to have more fun you Ero-Sannin!" Naruto replied.

"Gaki! Why I ought-" Jiraiya started before suddenly he was interrupted by the sounds of death.

"Jiraiya, what do you think you were just doing?" A calm yet demonic voice asked the white-haired man who instantly paled at the recognition of the voice.

Turning around Jiraiya met the gaze of one of his oldest and closest friends who was the embodiment of death at the current moment. "Tsu-Tsunade!" Jiraiya tried to speak but instantly noticed her hair was wet. It was then that he recalled noticing someone in the hot spring he knew. "Why I was just meeting up with Naruto, and we happened to have just ran into each other."

Jiraiya looked over towards his godson for support, but found that he had disappeared, looking back towards Tsunade he gawked as Naruto was saying hi to both Tsunade and Shizune, who had just come out of the hot spring herself. Naruto then looked over at Jiraiya and gave him a deadpan stare. "Don't get me involved in your stupid situation." Jiraiya just paled as he heard knuckles popping and Jiraiya knew that there was no escape now. Not even ten seconds later most villagers would report that they thought they saw a strange flying object soar across the village.

After returning from orbit Jiraiya now sported a black eye and a broken arm, but for the most part he was lucky. Lucky that since Naruto was there Tsunade didn't beat him nearly to death as much she would have if he wasn't there, which was something that he grateful about.

Walking through the streets of Konoha was quite enjoyable as the variety of stalls, activities, and games was enough to keep Naruto distracted, while Jiraiya kept close to him in fear of being nearly killed by Tsunade, who would send him a death glare from time to time. For the most part the activities were enjoyable as the group enjoyed winning games, activities, and participating in the festival.

Naruto was really enjoying it, because this was one of the few chances that his godparents would have enough time to spend an entire day with him, aside from Shizune who would always check up on him. Right now, they were enjoying the parade when someone appeared to deliver a message to Tsunade and Jiraiya.

The Anbu delivered the message to Jiraiya and Tsunade from the Third Hokage. Naruto noticed how his godparents' attitudes changed and could only guess that something bad had just happened. Tsunade told Shizune to take Naruto and enjoy the festival and that's what they did, while Jiraiya and Tsunade went to see their old sensei.

Shizune for her part wasn't necessarily worried about having to watch Naruto, it was the part in which she had to try and keep up with that she had a problem with. The small blonde was full of energy, always has been, and she was nearly getting exhausted from just trying to keep up with him for no more than two hours. She understood how Naruto was easily able to avoid getting captured after a prank went wrong or he got caught, but still she was a seasoned shinobi taught by Tsunade herself, and yet this small blonde-haired kid was besting her endurance.

For the most part the festival was fun for Naruto, although he had wished Tsunade and Jiraiya were still with them, after all he doesn't get to see them that much and they had originally planned on spending the day with him. After all, Jiraiya was his godfather and from what he got from that confusing conversation with Tsunade, they are related because of the Uzumaki and Senju clans were closely related. The only problem with that though he had more chances to see her than Jiraiya, she was still the head-doctor for the Konoha hospital, so usually he only got a chance to see her every other week or so.

Noticing how much time has passed Naruto decided to slow down his pace much to the relief of Shizune who took a break on a nearby bench to catch her breath. "Sorry for tiring you out Shizune." Naruto apologized.

"Its fine Naruto, it's just I don't have as much energy as you do is all, so it can become a bit of a challenge trying to keep up with you." Shizune replied with a tired smile. Naruto though didn't feel that much better for tiring her out, so he went over to a nearby stall and got her a drink. After obtaining the drink Naruto ran back to her as quick as possible and gave her the much refreshing drink.

"Arigato Naruto that makes me feel a little bit better." Shizune thanked to which Naruto just grinned.

Looking at the time, Shizune quickly realized that it was almost time for viewing part of the festival and told Naruto that he should head up to somewhere high, so that he could get the best view of the moon. Knowing that he didn't have an orb Naruto just decided to go with it and not worry Shizune about the fact that he didn't have one, so he left for the very place that he had recently pranked this past week.

Many people he had passed along the way were getting ready, as they pulled out their orbs. All of the orbs seemed to radiate differently than those around them and Naruto took note of that as he continued on his way.

Hurrying up to the top of the monument Naruto noticed that a lot of people were gathering now that the main event of the festival was starting. Naruto just kept climbing the stairs to the top, as he hoped to get a better view. It took no longer than a few minutes for him to reach the top and from there he saw the crescent moon begin to shine past the clouds that had blocked it earlier. It was larger than normal and with a light blue tint to its luminescent glow.

Seeing the moon like this did feel sort of magical, but it was just a shame that he didn't have an orb. Naruto was so deep in concentration that was on the moon that he nearly forgot about everything else, when it hit him. Reaching into his pocket, Naruto pulled out the box, and to Naruto's surprise the box seemed to glow in the moonlight. Seals that were present on the box disappeared and Naruto heard a click.

Guessing on what to do Naruto grabbed the top of the box and pulled it off revealing a note that Naruto looked at. _"Naruto, this was made before you were born, it was made especially for your first time."_ The note started. Picking it up Naruto saw what it was underneath and was completely surprised. There situated in the ceremonial box was an orb, one that did not glow.

Reading the rest of the note Naruto learned why it wasn't glowing. _"This orb was pre-made just for you, so that when have reached the age that you can start manipulating chakra, all you have to do is put a little bit in and it will be yours. Your parents were very anxious as they wanted to make sure you had one. They really did love you Naruto, never forget that."_

Naruto was having mixed emotions while reading this note. At one point he was happy, and another part of him was sad that he didn't get to spend this time with his parents. Putting the note aside Naruto reached for the orb which was rather light and looked at it. Remembering all those lessons from the academy as well as from Tsunade and Jiraiya Naruto tried putting some of his chakra into the orb.

At first nothing happened, which disheartened Naruto at first before noticing the faint orange glow that emanating from it. It was faint at first, but then it expanded further to the point that it was the brightest object around him. Seeing this Naruto stopped and watched as the chakra within the orb swirled before faint changes to orb began to appear.

The base color became a light shade of orange while the glow became much lighter. The inside was no longer cloudy but instead see through which made Naruto even more excited as he watched the light die down. With that the changes were completed, and the orbs glow had died down to a bearable level. "With this I can finally see if I can get my good luck or even a wish!" Naruto cheered.

Quickly bringing the orb to his eye Naruto looked towards the moon in hopes of seeing some stars. For the first few minutes nothing happened, but then Naruto saw it a shooting star. That was the first one, so far Naruto was going to be getting bad luck, and he really hoped that wouldn't happen.

A couple more minutes passed before he finally saw the second one, and to his joy it wasn't his eye trying to mess with him after swapping eyes. Two shooting stars were visible to him now which meant he was going to be having good luck this year. Overjoyed at this Naruto jumped in the air cheered for who knows how long before he decided to look for the last time.

The moon was starting to disappear behind the clouds again which meant that the festival was coming to an end, but Naruto hoped to see at least a quick glimpse at a third shooting star. Though he continued to look time went by and the moon was almost gone along with the shooting stars. "Well I guess there is a reason why people say that no one ever gets lucky enough to get a third shooting star." Naruto said to no one in particular.

Deciding to leave Naruto looked at the orb and noticed that it was still glowing. Thinking back to what the elderly landlord told him if the moon disappears the orbs will stop glowing, but for some reason his was still glowing. Confused Naruto at first thought he broke it, but then he looked up and for some strange reason he felt that he should look one last time.

Doing so Naruto eyes widened. There along with his other two stars was another third star, not knowing how to react to this Naruto just stood there shocked trying to register what he was seeing. Quickly deciding that he should make his wish Naruto did just that. "I wish to be strong, strong enough to be recognized and to protect those close to me!" Naruto begged hoping that would be enough.

Looking over at his orb he noticed that it light had faded, and Naruto looked up and could no longer see the moon. As though waiting for some weird feeling or perhaps something strange to happen to him Naruto found neither happening. Realizing that perhaps wishes didn't work like that Naruto felt a little disappointed at this and decided that is was probably for the best to go and find Shizune now.

Making his way towards the stairs Naruto thought he saw something in the corner of his eye. Turing in that direction Naruto thought he saw a shooting star, but this was different it seemed to be getting closer. As though realizing that it was coming his way Naruto began to freak out because a shooting star was coming straight at him like it had a grudge against him.

Running as fast as he could Naruto wasn't able to escape its path and was caught in the impact. The next thing Naruto knew he was surround by light and fell into unconsciousness. Before he succumbed to the impact Naruto thought he heard something like a voice. _**"The darkness is starting to set in... let it take you...meet him there."**_

* * *

 _ **"Darkness...Darkness is all that I can see. Cold is all that I can feel."**_ _Came the strange sounding voice, as it seemed to resonate three times._ _ **"To fall so far and fail all the while...hardly a king anymore, but a shadow of my former self."**_

 _Waking up Naruto found himself in a weird place. It was dark and cold and there were so many stars glittering the night sky. The ground bellow him was nothing but rock and the land was barren of any life_. _'Where am I?' Naruto wondered. He had never seen a place like this before._

 _ **"A child no less, truly this is the work of a torturous force, one bent on humiliating me even further."**_ _Came the voice again. Looking around Naruto saw nothing and nobody at the same time._

 _'Show yourself you coward or do I have to come after you!' Naruto yelled out to the darkness of the night._

 _ **"Perhaps this child isn't as pathetic as I thought demanding me to show myself."**_ _It came again, although this time it seemed much closer than before, and yet Naruto still couldn't see who it was that was speaking._

 _'I'm warning you I'm going to be Hokage one day, and if you think that I'm afraid of you then you have another thing coming!' Naruto yelled out receiving an eerie chuckle from the person._

 _ **"Let's see if you can still be so brave once you've seen my might!"**_ _The voice bellowed as the ground seemed to shake and lightning cracked around him. A large storm had formed above him with lightning flaring and the wind howling all the while Naruto was still trying get a clear view of who this person was._

 _The clouds began to move out of the ways as the sky ignited and flames trickled the air. These flames danced and waved as they flowed to a central point where they would take form. Naruto wasn't believing what he was seeing, it was almost to fantastic to be true. The flames had formed together and with a clap of lightning a being took form within this world._

 _The being was very large with golden scales covering all over its body. It had two large prominent wings of sorts that appeared leathery, stiff, and giving Naruto the impression of something that would swipe him over in seconds. There were three distinct heads, each attached to an extended neck. It had no arms but two strong and powerful legs with what appeared to be have talon-like claws on its feet. And lastly a tail that towards the end split into two._

 _Naruto was mesmerized by the creature before him as he had never seen or heard about anything like it. Noting the look on Naruto's face the creature grinned at how the boy was in awe of his power, as he should be._ _ **"I am the Great God of Destruction, the King of Terror, and Planet Killer...I am King Ghidorah!"**_ _Ghidorah announced loud and proud._ _ **"And you child will be my vessel."**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 **End**

* * *

 **Well there you go everyone that there was the first chapter of 'Vessel of The Golden Dragon'. I will say that this was a long process for me personally because I had never done something like this before and am aware that the ending almost feels a little rushed. I will try and not make that a common problem as the story progresses as well as a reminder that just like Apollo I am also in college, so we'll update as soon as possible.**

 **Now then info dump time: More like clarifications**

 **1.) Yep if you haven't figured it out Naruto does not have Kurama sealed inside of him. I wanted to do the 'something else inside of Naruto' story for a while now and I felt that King Ghidorah would add a certain flare to it. Does this mean Kurama is gone? Nope his former Jinchuuriki yes, just not him after all he'll be relevant later.**

 **2.) I wanted to have Jiraiya more in Naruto's life while he was growing up, and since Naruto and Tsunade are technically related by family blood, aka Senju and Uzumaki clans being cousin clans and Tsunade's grandmother was Mito Uzumaki, I felt that knowing that she had another family member out there as well as for Naruto as well would help them both. Though the reason that they don't get to spend as much time with Naruto will be explained later as well.**

 **3.) The mystery person and their role will not be revealed right now, but later, why spoil that. Although quick I will say that there are certain people who are alive during this story's time that weren't originally in fact a lot of events that affected certain aspects were modified for this story so please bear in mind that.**

 **4.) Why is Naruto living in an apartment instead of a compound with Tsunade? Naruto personally seeks independence so it's only natural for him to want to try living on his own even though Shizune does stop by.**

 **5.) Yes, the Neo verse is indeed something that I enjoy, although I mainly care for the appearance of the monsters. For those not familiar with the neo verse, to sum it up it is a fan made redesign of the godzilla monsters in a universe that combines the events of every godzilla movie. Its not great in hindsight because of the later, but the designs are cool. *Fun fact: The guy who made the designs is now is a big comic book artist who did the Godzilla: Rulers of the Earth comic line.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed this first chapter of my new story, it certainly took some time.** **Feel free to ask me a question or two. You can do this by PMing me or just leaving your question in your review. Thanks for giving my story a read, if you made it this far. I've come a long way from when this was first published a couple years ago, but I'm only looking forward now. Thank you for your time and I'll catch you later. PEACE!**


	2. An Altered Fate

**Hey there everybody this is Shin with an update. This chapter has been updated. I spent some time going back and editing some noticeable things off the bat. I'm not done, but I'm still posting this for you to still read.**

 **Normally there is a Q &A section here in the upper Author notes, however, during the update I found that those answers were already dealt with in later chapters or were based on previous ideas that have changed. I will still answer your questions regardless, just expect me to post the answers here if you left a question in a review. If you sent me a PM I'll message you as quickly as I can. Typically, I'll also post the question and the follow up answer to in this section to give better credence.**

 **Quickly before you start reading I want to state something. I do not bash characters. You'll understand why I bring this up in this chapter. Essentially, I take the character and improve upon them. There will be no bashing in this story. With that out of the way please enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is a fan-based parody. Naruto belongs to TV Tokyo, Masashi Kishimoto, and Viz Media; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Chapter 2: An Altered Fate...

 _The past few minutes seemed to have left Naruto completely confused, dumbfounded, and worried. During those same few minutes King Ghidorah was wondering whether his vessel even understood what was happening. They had been there for a few minutes now and his vessel hadn't replied once since he stated who he was._

 _ **"Hey brat, are you deaf or just too stupid to understand anything I just said?"**_ _King Ghidorah asked trying to "break the ice". Naruto's expression though hardly changed and Ghidorah was starting to get annoyed._ _ **"You stupid monkey you had better answer me!"**_ _That got Naruto's attention as his expression changed and a frown was adorned on his face._

 _"Who are you calling a monkey?! You stupid lizard!" Naruto shouted back resulting in a loud and a monstrous roar being quickly directed towards him, which nearly sent him flying across where ever he was._

 _ **"How dare you insult me! I am a being who can wipe out all life on this planet, and I can kill you right here and now!"**_ _Ghidorah roared in anger. To Ghidorah's surprise though Naruto didn't falter, but instead stood his ground even though his body was shaking._

 _"If you plan on hurting anyone then you're going to have to go through me!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to look as tuff as possible in front of Ghidorah._

 _Ghidorah just laughed at Naruto, who looked pathetic in his eyes._ _ **"You think that you could fight me and win?! Don't make me laugh, your body is shaking in fear."**_ _Ghidorah started as he got closer to him._ _ **"You lack the ability to kill without remorse, and I can tell because your eyes reveal your weakness."**_

 _"S-So what if I'm weak! A Hokage protects their village, and since I will become the future Hokage I will defend it with my life!" Naruto tried to state without sounding to weak as he knew that he was starting to stutter. Ghidorah just chuckled as he knew he was going to enjoy his stay._

 _ **"Bold words boy. Too bad you don't have the confidence to back them up."**_ _Ghidorah's three heads were now on either of Naruto's sides making it more claustrophobic as Naruto quickly realized the size difference._ _ **"Luckily for you I can't kill you."**_

 _"W-What do you mean?!" Naruto asked as he was still intimidated by Ghidorah's sheer size._

 _ **"It appears whatever forces placed me inside of your body have also created a countermeasure that prevents me from causing you any harm."**_ _Ghidorah stated as he retracted his heads back to their previous positions._ _ **"A shame to because I would have enjoyed torturing you into a slow yet extremely painful death."**_

 _Naruto was rather terrified as he didn't understand much other than that this King Ghidorah was inside of him, which means this was his mindscape, and that he didn't want anything to do with Naruto. "If you don't like me then why don't you leave?!" Naruto forced out as he wanted to know if there was such a way to get rid of this monster._

 _ **"Oh, trust me. I would enjoy nothing more than to be set free upon this world and ultimately destroy it, but alas it seems as though that there is an unknown force keeping me inside of you."**_ _Ghidorah hissed as he hated his current situation._ _ **"Trapped within a living prison that should it die, then so will I! What's more my powers have seemed to have degraded from my last battle! What an annoyance!"**_

 _"Battle?! Who would even think about fighting something as big as you?!" Ghidorah looked back at Naruto and said person quickly wished he hadn't asked as he saw the hatred that was burning in Ghidorah's eyes._

 _Leaning forward to make his point, Ghidorah was once again starring down at Naruto directly in front of him._ _ **"A fool whom I want to crush and ultimately kill!"**_ _The killing intent was radiating from Ghidorah as he spoke with malice and bloodlust._ _ **"In the future it would be wise to keep your questions to yourself lest you wish to feel my wrath!"**_

 _Unable to find the strength to speak Naruto merely nodded his head. Seeing that the boy understood King Ghidorah relented his killer intent and backed off. Feeling the great weight finally being left it Naruto was able to breathe again. "S-So what am I supposed to do now that I know that your inside of me?"_

 _ **"Go about your business as usual, I could care less."**_ _Ghidorah answered._ _ **"So long as you don't speak a word about me being inside of you that is."**_ _The warning was there, and Naruto was taking the hint. He would not mention a word to anyone lest he'd deal with this monster's wrath._

 _"I actually have one last question?" Naruto hesitantly asked causing Ghidorah to growl his disapproval causing Naruto to shrink where he stood. "How do I get out of here?"_

 _ **"You're asking the wrong kaiju for that, if you recall I CAN'T leave this area!"**_ _Ghidorah bellowed. Naruto wasn't having a good day, all he wanted was the power to become stronger, but instead he got a giant three headed dragon who is everything but pleasant._

 _Suddenly something clicked into Naruto's thoughts as he looked at the dragon with curious gaze. Ghidorah noticed the change in in Naruto's posture and was slightly annoyed that he wasn't cowering still. "You're really strong right?" Naruto asked Ghidorah making the gold dragon scoff in response._

 _ **"I've destroyed planets and conquered many races, so yes I am strong!"**_ _Ghidorah stated rudely though Naruto didn't care about that part which made Ghidorah slightly curious as to what the boy was thinking._ _ **'Surely this child doesn't think that I would willingly serve him just because I'm stuck inside of his body?!'**_

 _"OK, I've finally decided what we're going to do!" Naruto announced causing Ghidorah to be taken back with the sudden loud outburst full of enthusiasm._

 _ **"You had better realize quickly that I will not serve you just because I'm stuck in here boy!"**_ _Ghidorah was quick to express his view._

 _"I don't want you to serve me, I just want you to help me become stronger!" Naruto explained. This was not the kind of response that Ghidorah had expected from a humanoid, sure most races would have been quick to make a slave out of him if this situation was anywhere else, but apparently Naruto was defected in some way._

 _ **"Come again?!"**_ _Ghidorah needed to clarify that what he had just heard was what he heard and not something else._

 _"I want you to help me get stronger, that way I can reach my goals even faster!" Naruto expressed in his happy-go-lucky demeanor. Ghidorah was now fully concerned as his current vessel was indeed broken. "What's with the weird look, does it come to as a surprise? You are what I wished for right?"_

 _ **"Wishing?! What are you talking about?!"**_ _Ghidorah demanded. He didn't believe in such a thing, only weaklings like the one he was inhabiting would do such things not him. He had ceased with such things long ago._

 _"I made a wish during the Grand Lunar Festival after seeing three shooting stars before I was hit by one of them and ended up here." Naruto explained. All the while Ghidorah was trying to register what he had just heard._

 _He remembers that he was traveling at high speeds through the galaxy before he was attack, but after that he was adrift in space trying to let his wounds heal. Something wasn't right and Ghidorah knew that a something as simple as wish was not behind the reasoning of him being placed within Naruto's body._

 _ **"There are no such things as wishes kid best to remember that!"**_ _Ghidorah stated before getting a glare from Naruto._ _ **'This kid is really pushing his luck now isn't he.'**_

 _"Okay Mr. "know it all" then how do you explain how you ended up inside me, when the wish I made was to make me stronger?" Naruto demanded to which Ghidorah was starting to seethe at the idiocy that he is being subjected to._

 _ **"THERE IS NO SUCH THINGS AS WISHES!"**_ _Ghidorah roared making Naruto nearly jump out of his skin._ _ **"You weaklings are all the same! Praying and wishing that something good will happen if you ask for it, well guess what, YOU'RE JUST WASTING YOUR TIME! There is no higher intelligence out there that just magically grants your wish, no instead it's just a pointless waist of your pitiful hope that I can't stomach seeing!"**_

 _Naruto was slowly realizing that he may have just pressed one of Ghidorah's buttons without realizing it judging from his reaction. Naruto simply hid behind a rock as he noticed Ghidorah thrash about while still yelling the same thing. 'Talk about anger issues! Is in denial or something?!' Naruto wondered before noticing that one of Ghidorah's tails was heading his way forcing him to run away from his hiding spot._

 _"HEY, CALM YOUR SCALEY BUTT DOWN ALREADY!" Naruto yelled towards Ghidorah in hopes that he would hear him. Ghidorah did hear it and turned to look at him, although Naruto wished that he hadn't because he was looking into the eyes of death itself._

 _ **"You!"**_ _Ghidorah hissed making Naruto quiver where he stood._

 _"ME?" Naruto repeated with fear emanating from his voice._

 _ **"What gives you the right to wish and hope for something pleasant to happen to you!"**_ _Ghidorah demanded making Naruto stop his shaking as he listened to what Ghidorah was saying._ _ **"You don't deserve to wish and hope, I bet you were greatly loved and adored by your parents! Spoiled and loved by those around you and told that you were special. In the real-world kid special won't save your life when someone or something comes to take it, so don't even think that you are worthy enough to make a wish when your nothing more than an insignificant little brat!"**_

 _Naruto didn't respond at all, but instead simply down casted his gaze from Ghidorah making said dragon snort. He had listened to what Ghidorah had stated, but all those descriptions were not accurate contrary to what Ghidorah thought. "What makes you think I've had a pleasant life?" Naruto asked not looking up at Ghidorah who had released a low bellow. "My life has been everything but that!"_

 _Naruto's exclamation surprised Ghidorah as he was watching this child who had the audacity to yell at him._ _ **"So, what join the club! How many lives do you think I ruined? It's called life, and it will cheat you out mostly everything!"**_ _Ghidorah bluntly stated._

 _"I had my parents taken from me at birth," Naruto began much to Ghidorah's displeasure. "I've been raised by my godparents yes, but they are hardly available at times! I left the compound to start becoming independent yes, but the loneliness was to great. The villagers are nice, but that is out of pity and respect for my parents, they don't see me as me! Kids I try to become friends with are afraid for some reason, because a rumor came out that people died around me! Now I am here and your telling me that I have been spoiled and loved by everyone, that I have parents, that I've been called special. I'VE NEVER BEEN CALLED SPECIAL IN MY ENTIRE LIFE BECAUSE I HAVE NO TALENT!"_

 _Ghidorah was still getting irked that Naruto was yelling at him. He wasn't going to believe these words that were being thrown at him until he saw Naruto's eyes glaring at him with every bit of emotion expressing that he was telling the truth. Ghidorah didn't want to care what the boy's life was like, but Naruto was still yelling at him. "You are the one who doesn't deserve to have wishes or hope!" Naruto exclaimed at Ghidorah surprising the dragon. "You've said you've conquered and destroyed planets! YOUR THE ONLY ONE HERE NOT WORTHY OF ANYTHING!"_

 _Naruto had to catch his breath as he was physical drained from all of that yelling, which came to him as a surprise. Ghidorah though remained silent as he eyed Naruto as though waiting to see if he was done._ _ **"Is that it, or should I keep my ears covered while you yell your useless banter?"**_ _Ghidorah asked rather bland as he saw Naruto nod his head._ _ **"I'll say this, you've got balls to yell at me like that, which in your case is good news for you."**_

 _Naruto picked up his head and looked at the dragon in confusion, although he was still trying to catch his breath and was unable to ask a question._ _ **"Basically, brat I'm saying that since you have a drive to give me, a kaiju that destroyed civilizations and is known as the "Planet Killer", a piece of your mind then I guess that you're not entirely spineless."**_

 _"Is that supposed to be a complement?" Naruto asked after finally catching his breath._

 _ **"You can take as you like, but that will be all that you're getting from me."**_ _Ghidorah retorted._ _ **"Besides you're going to need that resolve if you're going to survive outside your home."**_

 _"I know that and that's why I want you to help me get stronger." Naruto restated his earlier statement._

 _Ghidorah merely scoffed as he flew up into the air above Naruto._ _ **"Brat if you think that I'm just going to train you then you have another thing coming!"**_ _Ghidorah countered._

 _"WHAT!" Naruto yelled out in shock. "What do you mean you're not going to train me? I showed you my resolve, didn't I?!"_

 _ **"That was all that you've shown me. You're still weak in my eyes, and until you've proven that you've gotten stronger you will never be trained by me!"**_ _Ghidorah had stated before flying away into the recesses of Naruto's mind leaving him there to think of what had just happened._

 _Naruto was utterly displeased as he was left standing in his mindscape alone without anyone else there. A lonely barren rock floating in a dark space with no signs of life anywhere. "I see that this place reflects my life pretty well." Naruto stated before turning to leave only to realize something. "Wait, how do I get out of here?!"_

* * *

A couple hours had passed, and Naruto was slowly opening his eyes. His gaze was met with bright lights coming from the ceiling above him. Naruto recognized the place almost instantly and decided to sit up, only when he did he noticed that he couldn't.

Allowing for his eyes to adjust Naruto realized that he was restrained and that he had an IV in his arm. 'What happened, all I remember was that jerk of a dragon leaving and I couldn't get out.' Naruto had wondered what was going on until the door to his room opened and Shizune walked in and closed the door behind her. "Shizune?" Naruto asked trying to get her attention.

It worked because she instantly turned around and was surprised to see that Naruto was conscious for some reason. "N-Naruto are you awake?!" She stuttered as she rushed over to see that he was. "Wait here I'll be right back!" She then rushed outside the door leaving Naruto to think why she said wait when he was stuck there unable to move. He slowly pushed that thought out of his mind as he tried to think about his current situation.

'Huh, maybe she was surprised because I had that shooting star hit me on top of the Hokage Monument?' Naruto thought before he heard three pairs of footsteps coming down the hall towards his room.

Looking over at the door Naruto watched as Shizune returned with Tsunade and Jiraiya. "Naruto, I see that your conscious now." Tsunade stated as she enters doctor mode, that's Naruto called it whenever she would check on people, even him and Shizune, she carried herself professionally, only with her work.

"Yeah, but what happened?" Naruto asked her. Tsunade seemed hesitant to answer and it was Jiraiya who would answer his question.

"Naruto, you had a decent sized meteor fall on you that carried you outside the village as it kept going. When we realized that you were underneath it our worst fears were slowly beginning to emerge as we managed to remove it off you thanks to several volunteers." Jiraiya explained. "We had original thought you were dead, but when they removed the meteor it was revealed that you were almost completely unscathed."

Naruto was surprised before he realized that he didn't feel any pain or stiffness when he first woke up. "After checking you over I noticed that your eyes had changed color to a dark red hue, which made think at first that there was internal bleeding, but that was not the case." Tsunade explained. "Your entire body was unaffected by the sheer force that was delivered by the meteor, and yet when I placed the IV in your arm there was nothing to suggest that your body would have come out relatively unscathed."

"What we're saying Naruto is that for some reason you survived something that no one should have been able to survive, especially at your age." Jiraiya stated making Naruto quickly guess the reason why he was still alive. "Naruto, did you see anything before you fell unconscious?"

"I saw the three stars in my orb before making my wish." Naruto stated surprising the three others in the room, considering that no one has seen three stars in hundreds of years! "Then after that I saw a bright light and that was all I remember. Naruto had specifically left out the part where his third star that allowed him to make his wish was the one that crashed into him, because then he would be forced to answer questions about said wish.

"When you saw that bright light did you feel some sort of power within yourself building up?" Jiraiya asked confusing Naruto. "Like an extension of yourself was coming out of your body?" Naruto didn't understand what he was saying and Jiraiya saw this.

"Naruto did you try and use your chakra at all when you saw the bright light?" Tsunade asked making her question much easier to answer.

"Not really, I hadn't even thought about doing that while I was standing up there." Naruto answered honestly, this seemed to have stopped them from asking any further questions about if it was anything on his part.

"Then perhaps you got really lucky like a guardian angel was watching out for you." Jiraiya suggested only to make Naruto think about what more than likely saved him was far from being an angel.

Inside the recesses of Naruto's mind Ghidorah let out a loud and thundering sneeze. **"Why do I have a feeling that boy is thinking about me right now?"** Ghidorah thought before continuing to fly around Naruto's mind.

Back in the hospital, Naruto was getting checked over Tsunade again just to be sure that he was fine before he could go. "Now then Naruto, if anyone asks why your eyes are red instead of blue just explain to them that you were in an accident and that this was a result of it." Tsunade informed him.

"I gotcha baa-chan." Naruto stated causing Tsunade to grow a tick mark on her forehead.

"What did I say about calling me that?" Tsunade asked him to cause Naruto to smirk at her much to her confusion.

"That I can call you that whenever I wanted to, and that Ero-Sannin is going to go and peak on the women's bath today around noon." Naruto stated causing Tsunade to change her appearance with a calm look on her face as she finished up Naruto before proceeding to get up and leave the room.

"Naruto," Tsunade started as she stopped in front of the door. "don't ever let me catch you doing what that idiot does, understood?" Naruto nodded his head before watching Tsunade walk out of the room and proceed to head over to deal with Jiraiya.

Looking over at the clock Naruto realized that Tsunade had done all his treatments on her break and felt a little bad for telling her what Jiraiya was doing. Ever since the Naruto could remember both his godparents were tasked with a large amount of work. Tsunade oversaw the hospital here in Konoha as head doctor, while Jiraiya was busy managing the spy network he setup around the elemental nations.

Both were hardly given any breaks and would sometimes be gone for long periods of time, which really left Naruto with Shizune, although if Tsunade had to leave the village she had to go to. Aside from them and a couple others there was only three people in the village that Naruto got to see almost every day, the Hokage and the Ichirakus. He hadn't visited them that much in the past week mainly because of all the work he had to do because of his last prank.

"Next time I'll make sure not to pull a prank around another festival." Naruto mumbled to himself as he got the rest of his things before heading outside of his room to exit the hospital. Along the way he saw Shizune being busy helping Tsunade by doing a lot of paperwork. Naruto decided to keep going mainly so that he didn't interrupt her.

Reaching the stairs Naruto was nearly knocked down when the door leading to the stairs opened. The person who opened the door quickly realized that she had almost hit somebody and was quick to see if they were ok. "I'm so sorry for not seeing you there are you ok." A feminine voice asked. Naruto looked up and almost instantly recognized the person.

"Its fine, although I'm surprised to see you being so careless Rin onē-chan." Naruto jokingly stated as the young woman in front of him quickly realized who it was in front of her.

"Naruto what are you doing here? You know you shouldn't bother to many people here it is a hospital after all." Rin told him. Naruto was surprised that she hadn't been informed that he was brought in during the night, although it was not told everyone, so Naruto just didn't bring it up.

"I was just informing Baa-chan about what the Ero-Sannin was up to was all." Naruto chuckled with his infamous grin on his face. Rin wasn't happy to hear that he was meddling with people again and was about to give him a stern talk when she recognized Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto what happened to your eyes?" She asked him to cause Naruto to sigh as he realized that she would have found out eventually.

"I got into a little accident last night during the festival and the result was my eyes changing colors." Naruto explained.

"Are you okay? Is there anything else wrong with you?" Rin began asking questions trying to see if he was truly alright.

"I'm fine, just trying to make up a cool excuse to explain it to everyone at the academy tomorrow is all." Naruto grinned. "But I have to go so I'll catch you later on Rin nee-chan!" With that Naruto began making his way out of the hospital and with it a remark from Rin expressing to not run in a hospital.

Meanwhile a meeting was beginning amongst the heads of the village. Sarutobi Hiruzen was leading the meeting with the others consisting of Danzo, Homura, and Koharu. "Jiraiya and Tsunade won't be able to make it to this meeting today as both are extremely busy at the moment." Sarutobi explained to the others.

"Your students are quite the busy bees aren't they Sarutobi." Koharu commented.

"To busy focusing on minuscule tasks instead of the bigger picture if you ask me." Danzo stated gruffly.

"Jiraiya is currently locating a suitable candidate at the moment and Tsunade is busy managing the hospital and new applicants." Sarutobi stated making Danzo change his opinion.

"Has he found anyone at the moment?" Homura asked. Sarutobi wasn't going to lie, he informed them now they haven't found anybody yet. "Time is running out Sarutobi, you know that."

"I am fully aware of how long the container can hold the fox, that is why I have issued the task to Jiraiya." Sarutobi stated as he went through different documentation that was provided by Jiraiya. "The fool might still have his antics, but he gets serious when he needs to be."

Sarutobi then handed the three each a copy of the documents that Jiraiya handed over to him. "So, there is no eligible candidate in the Land of Fire." Koharu remarked. "This is becoming trifling."

"Then perhaps we should look outside of the Land of Fire, there have been known survivors that have traveled across the elemental nations beforehand." Homura commented.

"The problem is though we can't just kidnap them, it could lead to a diplomatic incident, and without a Jinchuuriki we can't afford to be so careless." Sarutobi responded.

"It's a shame that the boy can't be the Jinchuuriki." Danzo stated blandly causing him to receive a couple looks from the other occupants of the room. "He is half Uzumaki, but that fool who took control of the Kyuubi stopped that from happening."

"We do not talk about that here Danzo." Sarutobi warned.

"The boy is no use to us anyway, just another civilian whose parents were famous. There's no need to go after him." Danzo added before returning to the documents. "Has he tried locating anyone outside of the Land of Fire?" Danzo decided to change the topic mainly because he wanted to avoid annoying Sarutobi around this time.

"He's starting to at this very moment, which is why he said he was going to be late." Sarutobi stated.

"Let's hope he finds someone soon, otherwise this get very dangerous." Homura expressed his concern with the others nodding as they had felt the same.

"If worse comes to worse Sarutobi, the situation could become desperate are you okay with that?" Koharu asked her old teammate. Sarutobi didn't want to think about that possibility although he knew that he would have to take it into consideration.

"Danzo," Sarutobi started getting the attention of his rival. "If it comes down to it, see to it that no one will learn of our actions." Danzo nodded as he took this just as seriously as the others.

'Glad to see that you are back Sarutobi, maybe now when can make some progress.' Danzo thought as he was careful not to reveal his thoughts and continued looking over the documents when he spotted something. "Sarutobi, there is a mentioning that Jiraiya had taught an Uzumaki in this document."

The Third Hokage looked for the part Danzo was referring to and saw it almost as clear as day. When cross referencing and thinking back to around that time Sarutobi remembered the information. "Yes, it was quite some time ago, back when he, Tsunade, and Orochimaru had planned on retuning to village after their fight with Hanzo." Sarutobi explained. "Jiraiya had taught the young man along with his two friends, although from what information Jiraiya found out they were all killed over in Ame."

Danzo inwardly cursed his own foolishness back when he assisted Danzo, as he remembered seeing a red-haired boy long ago. 'I guess that in the future I must be extra careful with those I have killed off.' Danzo thought. Sarutobi noticed the inner conflict of his rival and took note of it for the future.

"It still wouldn't help us if the young man had survived. We need someone with still developing chakra coils and preferably an Uzumaki." Homura addressed with the others stifling through the papers analyzing all the details.

"I'll have Jiraiya keep looking, however, it might become unlikely that we can get an Uzumaki, and if so then we must select individuals with growing chakra coils." Sarutobi informed them.

"So, your saying that we must preselect individuals beforehand. Honestly, I would hate to give anyone this burden any soul for the benefit of the village, but this is essential." Koharu stated.

"We have a couple months to find a suitable host, otherwise the Kyuubi will break free." Sarutobi expressed as he and the others continued to plan for the best and worst-case scenarios that could happen within the next few months.

Following his trip from the hospital Naruto had gone home and rested for today, which was the day the academy was picking back up. He wasn't particularly fond of going today, but he had to go if he wanted to become a shinobi. He sat down ready to eat some breakfast when he noticed something odd.

Whenever he went to go and turn off/on the lights he would get shocked for some reason. The same thing happened with the electronics he touched, it became rather annoying making Naruto question what was going on before casting it aside as nothing but a bad morning.

Eventually he made it out of his apartment and headed over towards the academy, along the way he noticed that a couple people were looking at him. This was new, he was never the center of this much attention before, unless he had just done a prank, but he was clean of pranks this past week. Naruto then remembered that his eyes were a different color, so he figured it was just that.

Sure, enough once he got to the academy his thoughts were confirmed. At first when he walked in nobody paid him much mind, however, after they noticed his eyes were a different color that became a different story. "Woah, look at Naruto, his eyes are different!" Someone pointed out making Naruto shrink in his chair.

"Hey what's wrong Naruto tired of the color blue?" Kiba remarked much to his annoyance.

"If you must know, I got into an accident the other day during the festival that resulted in my eyes color changing." Naruto stated hoping that would be enough for them. Kiba on the other hand just kept pecking at him.

"What'd you do spill a drink in your eyes or something, I mean you pretty much suck, so I wouldn't put it pass you." Kiba laughed. Naruto didn't like Kiba for a lot of reasons, but some of the main reasons was because he picked on him because he just couldn't mold or use chakra that well for some reason, which resulted in him becoming dead last in a lot of areas. Kiba wasn't that much better, but he probably figured he could get away with bullying Naruto and not worry about any repercussions.

There were many times Naruto just wanted to punch Kiba in the face, but he would remind himself that it was best to not cause a fight. However, this was one of those times when Naruto didn't want to be bothered and Kiba was beginning to push his buttons. One wrong word could set off Naruto, much to the amusement of his new 'occupant'.

Ghidorah had been watching the whole scene transpire and was curious as to how far his vessel would go if he was in a fight. **"This will get interesting, especially since the kid got something from me when I was placed in here."** Ghidorah chuckled. This was his only form of entertainment and was going to try and make the best of it by stimulating Naruto's aggressive emotions as much as possible.

Kiba then noticed something was odd with Akamaru, his small dog that was residing on his head. Normally Akamaru would be enjoying his time with Kiba, however, Akamaru seemed unnerved near Naruto. It was to the point that Akamaru had silently whimpered as though trying to tell Kiba something. _'What's wrong with Akamaru he's never like this?'_ Kiba was a little worried for his animal companion and then sniffed the air around Naruto. _'Something is wrong, his scent is now completely different. Now it smells like a combination of a fire and a storm around him.'_

Kiba was about to say something until Iruka came in and demanded that everyone take their seats. This meant that Ghidorah would not see how much Naruto could take until he'd snap much to the dragon's disapproval. **"So close, yet so far away."** Ghidorah stated as he flew up to a mountain top to rest. **"Time for a nap then, because I sure as hell am not going to watch any of this for over an hour."**

Naruto felt a little relief knowing that class was going to start, however, he still didn't like the fact that Kiba bothered him about his eyes. If anything, he should have left him alone after he was given the explanation. Looking over towards the window Naruto noticed that Sasuke, the class genius, was looking outside the window again. He didn't blame him considering how boring these stupid these lessons were.

Instead Naruto's thoughts were elsewhere, he didn't pay much attention in class anyway because Jiraiya and Tsunade had taught him much of the material that the academy would go over, it was just utilizing his chakra was the biggest problem he had. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade tried to fix his problem but what they suggested never worked that well.

He had until the end of next year to learn to utilize his chakra, otherwise he might not be allowed to become a shinobi. The thought was daunting on Naruto and was especially worried about the following year.

Redirecting his attention back to the class Naruto found himself staring down one of the most complicated and boring topics he ever thought possible, Fuinjutsu. _'Who in the right mind would even try to understand something as stupid and complicated?!'_ Naruto thought oblivious to his own roots. _'I really hope that I'll never have to use that in the future, otherwise I'm screwed!'_

* * *

After a brief discussion on Fuinjutsu it was lunch time and the class headed outside to eat. Naturally it was at that time that everyone broke off into different groups as to eat with each other. This however did not include Naruto as he was forced to eat alone, something that began not long after the rumor started. There were times that someone would come up to him, but that was either for informing him of class changes or if it was Kiba and his group.

They hadn't bothered him today because they were busy showing off each other with what they had to eat, while Naruto just ate on the single swing by himself. He knew that he wasn't the only loner out here, but the one thing that separated him from them was that they wanted to be alone. Sasuke was one such example, Naruto didn't even see why people liked him, his attitude and demeanor was ice cold, and those that he would talk to was only out of respect or of an absolute necessity.

He tried talking to him once, but his fan girls kept him at bay and prevented any form of contact between the two. This of course led to Naruto slowly growing a grudge and becoming jealous of the prodigy Uchiha. Where many people saw Sasuke as a gifted and loyal Uchiha, Naruto saw an arrogant and self-centered idiot that he wanted to overcome.

 _'One day I'll surpass him, and then everyone will realize that I am the one who deserves the attention!'_ Naruto continued eating as he knew that they didn't have to long to eat because they were going to have combat training next and the teachers wanted to make sure that they didn't eat too much and get sick. _'If they didn't want us to get sick then they should have held off until the end of class today, oh wait, it is the last thing today.'_

Looking over at the group of fan girls around his now declared rival with great animosity. Feeling like someone was staring at him, Sasuke looked over and he thought he saw Naruto looking at him, but saw that he was staring at his food while eating.

The announcement to come back inside was quick and everyone began cleaning up and heading over to where they would be conducting the training. This was the one thing knew he had a chance at excelling in because aside from the lack of being able to use chakra as efficiently, he was trained in hand-to-hand combat. Even then it wasn't as outstanding as some of the clan children, who had their clan teach them techniques that would make them efficient on the battlefield.

Half of the stuff that Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to teach Naruto couldn't be applied because they require significant chakra control, which he lacked in. This however didn't stop him from training every day. He had heard the stories of a student who was his senior who excelled without using jutsu.

Iruka and Mizuki were in front of the crowd of students addressing the rules and the order in which they would be fighting. Naruto noticed that they mainly focused on pitting the clan head children against non-clan children to keep their grades relative. For the most part it was Mizuki, Iruka was busy watching over the students who were combating each other to notice the difference.

Approaching Mizuki he noticed a faint glimmer of disdain, he could only guess why. Kiba was in all intents purposes Mizuki's favorite for some reason which led Naruto to only guess who he was going to be paired up against. Sure, enough his thoughts were confirmed when he was told his match was going to be with Kiba. Naruto silently seethed as he was tired of being paired up against him and losing, only to be humiliated.

Time flew rather slow as the inevitable event drew closer and it didn't help that people were already whispering how Kiba was going to clobber him. It angered him much to his own pride. He hardly even felt remotely this much disdain over a single person before, not even Sasuke irked him as much as Kiba.

Ghidorah felt the negativity within his vessel rising and decided to see what he missed. Noticing how trivial the matter really was he was curious if he finally had a chance to push Naruto into releasing all his hatred in the fight. A dark grin situated on each of Ghidorah's jaws as he situated himself into an upright position and began focusing his energy.

 **"Yes, what an ample opportunity to see the extent this brat will reach to crush someone he utterly despises."** Ghidorah chuckled as charged up his electricity to send off for his vessel's use, however, the energy wasn't being transmitted much to Ghidorah's own displeasure. **"My power is being stopped by some internal problem, I must eliminate it if I want to see a great show!"** Ghidorah took off in search of the source that the problem was originating.

Naruto's match was next, and he was starting to sweat a little. He wasn't looking forward to it and he knew that it was mandatory, not saying that he wouldn't participate considering he did have pride. The thought of losing to Kiba again was eating away at him, and he was becoming frustrated.

"Hey Naruto, you better just give up otherwise you're going to get your butt handed to you." A random student told him.

"I don't know why he's even trying, he can't even use chakra?" A girl asked a friend not caring if she could be heard.

"Maybe he's just too stupid to give up!" A random guy in his class jokingly answered causing those around him to laugh.

Naruto clinched his fists together trying to ignore them, but they were not considering his own feelings at all. Others watching this play through knew better than to get involved or just didn't care enough, which was the majority.

Time came when the match before his ended and Iruka called him and Kiba up to begin their sparring. Naruto took to Iruka's left while Kiba took his right. Both starred each other in the eyes which made Kiba grin. "I don't know why you just call it quits, perhaps you're just a glutton for punishment." Kiba boasted before Iruka corrected him and told him to cease harassing Naruto.

Iruka had known that Naruto and Kiba were not on the best terms, and yet they seemed to always be paired up together. _'Perhaps I need to talk with Mizuki about this reoccurring problem.'_ Iruka thought before addressing the rules to the two. "Alright listen up you two as I stated earlier, the first one to make contact on the other individual three times wins the match, you cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu just taijutsu, now are you ready?" Looking at the two Iruka confirmed that both were ready before initiating the spar with a loud "Hajime".

Rushing forward to throw off Kiba, Naruto swung his right fist towards Kiba's chest only for him to dodge to the side. Allowing for Naruto to pass him Kiba took this advantage and with Akamaru they counterattacked. The two may have been an inseparable pair but Akamaru was still wary about fighting Naruto which surprised some of the onlookers as well as Kiba.

"Come on Akamaru lets beat Naruto like usual!" Kiba attempted as he tried to sway his dog to join him in the fight, yet Akamaru was shaking a bit. This infuriated Kiba who thought Naruto had done something to his dog. "Hey! What did you do to Akamaru?!"

Naruto used the situation to get back a few feet before answering. "I don't know what's wrong with your stupid dog! Perhaps he just knows that you can't beat me!" Naruto stated. If Kiba wasn't already mad then he was furious.

Taking his family's stance, he proceeds to charge at Naruto with every intent to beat him to a pulp, something not over looked at by Iruka. He was starting to think that he should stop the match but Mizuki had appeared to stop him from doing so. "There is no need Iruka, Naruto is a good dodger, he'll be careful to avoid Kiba, but he lacks in the strength to hit him." He stated.

"That's why you paired them?!" Iruka responded flabbergasted, which Mizuki quickly interjected.

"I was simply pairing up the lower scores and they were close enough. The rest of the students had already been paired up, so I paired the two together to complete the exercise." Mizuki explained as he tried to weasel his way out of the situation.

"After today Mizuki you had better watch it, otherwise I'll report you to the Hokage directly, do I make myself clear!" Iruka whispered trying not to be too loud for the students to hear. Mizuki nodded as he knew better than to go against the Hokage.

Naruto continued to dodge Kiba's attacks, yet he has been unable to land a single blow on Kiba as well. It irritated him to no end that he had been successful in all but landing a blow. Having large amounts of stamina made it easier for him to continue with this charade that seemed to be lasting for quite a while. Kiba though was finally beginning to snap and lunged at Naruto in such a way that forced Naruto into a corner allowing him to strike the first blow.

It was across Naruto's left shoulder and it made him fall onto the ground by sheer force. "Come on and get up Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed as he waited for Naruto to get up only to charge again and this time hitting him in the chest sending him back a couple feet scoring another point, although by this point Iruka had seen enough.

"Alright Kiba that is enough!" Iruka exclaimed causing the student to look at his sensei as the match seemed to be put on hold unless Iruka was going to end it.

"But sensei, he did something to Akamaru!" Kiba protested. "And I'm getting back at him for doing it!"

"That is enough! Naruto has done nothing to Akamaru, honestly what makes you think he even did anything?!" Iruka demanded.

"Akamaru is afraid of him for some reason, his eye color is different from the last time, and he even smells different! He's a freak!" Kiba exclaimed.

Those words repeated in Naruto's mind repeatedly, causing him to seethe. His anger and resentment were growing to unthinkable levels that no child should reach at this point in their life. Of course, Naruto wasn't a normal child, which he knew, but even still it was nearly incomprehensible for many to think of such things. Clenching his fists again Naruto attempted to get up, but some reason he was having difficulty.

At the same time Ghidorah has been scouring across the expanses of Naruto's mind in search of the blockage, until he noticed something off in one location. Heading down to look at the strange formation, Ghidorah presumed that this was the cause of the blockage. **"This must be it, whatever it is it looks like a form of writing."** Ghidorah had estimated as he looked in closer detail. **"Now then, you have been the reason why I haven't been able to enjoy a great show, so that means that you have to go."**

Ghidorah focused a large amount of energy as he prepared to destroy whatever it was that was in front of him. The writing, like a seal, was going to be destroyed and with it Ghidorah will be able to influence Naruto even more. The energy concentrated from his wings as it traveled up to each individual head. The power that has been used to destroy civilizations and even small planets was about to used once again.

Once fully charged Ghidorah unleashed the concentrated energy onto the seal in the form of powerful gravity beams that obliterated it from the mindscape in a single blow. The result was a massive explosion within Naruto's mind, and a painful headache for Naruto who cringed and grasped his head out in pain. Unaware of what he had just done Ghidorah turned back to observe what was transpiring when he felt in increase in power amongst his vessel's body.

 **"Was that a form of restraint?"** Ghidorah wondered before returning to the scene before him of Naruto on the ground. **"If so, then I will say that this will become very entertaining!"** Ghidorah was chuckling as he watched Naruto lift himself up from the ground.

Naruto got to his feet and had his eyes darkened. Kiba noticed that he was back up and was prepared to finish the fight. "I don't care if I get in trouble, anyone who messes with my dog is going to get their ass handed to them!" Kiba yelled as he charged forward against Iruka's instructions. Getting closer Kiba pulled back his fist and many thoughts that this would be it for Naruto as they all knew how their fights usually ended.

That was what they presumed at first before Naruto erupted with flowing chakra surrounding him and sending sparks and electricity flying from his body startling everyone and causing Kiba to stop dead in his tracks. Everyone was taken back as they watched the chakra, which was gold, strike out at anything and everything around him.

"You said that Akamaru was afraid of me, you do remember what I said earlier right?" Naruto asked Kiba as he clenched his own fist and pulled back. Lighting enveloped the appendage lighting it up in a golden-white light. "This time Kiba, I'm going to win!" Kiba was horrified as he looked at Naruto who stared at him with a look that sent out mass terror to those who saw it.

Unable to move Kiba found himself stuck as Naruto prepared to strike. Once the fist started swinging Iruka manage to appear before it escalated into a much more severe incident and redirected Naruto's arm away from Kiba. When he did so the lightening shot off Naruto's arm and through the academy wall and a couple buildings. As the bolt was fired Naruto had realized what had just happened and proceeded to calm down, the result was him beginning to lose consciousness.

Naruto then proceeded to pass out fully from exhaustion and Iruka had to take him to the nurse's office, while Mizuki, who was shocked by what he had just seen ended class for today. Kiba was checked out to before being taken inside for Iruka to talk to him before getting the boy's mother.

Ghidorah though was impressed at the amount of killing intent Naruto had at that moment and couldn't help but sneer. However, he had accidently altered Naruto's normal chakra when he broke the seal causing his power to enhance Naruto's chakra. **"It may have been unintentional, but I will say that it was sure entertaining! This brat might just give me a good enough show if he's lucky!"** Ghidorah laughed before flying up into the air to fly around Naruto's mindscape once again.

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **That's the second chapter up. I have six more to go and a lot of editing to do. I've decided to edit the chapters before I post them. Cleaning them up if you will. I've noticed a lot of issues when going back and I won't be able to get a lot of them resolved this week. I still want to post Chapter 9 this week and start the Land of Waves arc. Now I won't dwell in the Land of Waves for too long, just enough to cover the necessary points.**

 **My primary goal in the Land of Waves will be to setup something in the future. Nothing much but foreshadows events to come. Now, I have decided the flow of this story. It does have a part 1 and a part 2 it's just they will be two separate stories. Part 1 focuses on Naruto's development into a fully-grown shinobi, while part 2 focuses on his adult life and dealing with major issues that will become apparent as we progress.**

 **Well that is it from me today guys, I'm sorry the process of transferring the story over to this account is taking so long. I will have this all finished by Wednesday definitely. Alrighty everyone, I'll catch you later. PEACE!**


	3. A Foreboding Future

**Hello there everyone, Shin Aedra here with Chapter 3! With all these chapter transfers occurring I'm quickly realizing just how much my writing has changed since the original publication. I'm going to sit down one day and work out all the kinks in this story.**

 **This chapter will need some work on it as well. Many of the early chapters will need work done on them, but for now I'm just worried about transferring them.**

 **Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is a fan-based parody. Naruto belongs to TV Tokyo, Masashi Kishimoto, and Viz Media; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Chapter 3: A Foreboding Future...

Waking up in a nursing room for the second time this week Naruto felt groggy. His body was tingling, for what reason he could not understand why, and tried to get up only for the nurse to keep him down. "Careful there Naruto, your experiencing chakra exhaustion, something that is quite a serious issue for normal shinobi." The nurse stated.

Naruto was confused as his mind was still clouded on what had caused him to end up there. "What do you mean by chakra exhaustion, I haven't been able to manipulate a single drop of chakra before?" Naruto asked the nurse who busy checking him over.

"Yes, we are fully aware of that, but it seems as though your chakra was lying dormant for some reason and that it "awoke" during your spar with the young Inuzuka boy." The nurse explained as Naruto finally began recalling the prior events of him in the spar and feeling anger and spite towards Kiba, as well as him charging at him before being intercepted by Iruka.

"Is he okay?" Naruto asked the nurse, who was a little surprised considering she heard that Kiba was the bully in the situation.

"He's perfectly fine, although your sensei Iruka got in touch with his mother and informed her of the situation, so he's not out of the doghouse yet so to speak." The nurse chuckled at the way she phrased the last part. "He also informed your guardians about the issue and they are on their way here as we speak."

"Come again?" Naruto asked for clarification. "Did you say both and not Shizune?"

"Yes, that is right, your sensei made sure that both would show up, and for good reason I'd say." The nurse clarified.

Naruto though was terrified at the fact that both were coming. Normally it would be Shizune who would show up as to be the medium between the academy and Tsunade since Jiraiya was gone for certain lengths of time on occasion. The fact that both are showing up meant that this was going to become something not short of being a large issue.

No sooner had those thoughts graced his mind Naruto heard the familiar pair of footsteps coming down the hall. Terror slowly began to build up as Naruto tried to figure out if he was in the wright or not concerning the incident with the spar. He was merely defending himself for the most part, although he did try to bash in Kiba's face in the end, still though he shouldn't get into trouble for that, right?

All these thoughts were plaguing his mind before finally the pair of familiar footsteps stopped at the door to the nurse's office. There was a knock and the nurse told them that they may enter, this in turn led to the door opening revealing both Jiraiya and Tsunade. Both of their faces baring a serious expression which made Naruto the more nervous.

The nurse though was calm as can be as she finished writing something down before facing Naruto's godparents. "Hello Lady Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya, I think that both of you will be glad to know that Naruto is only suffering from chakra exhaustion at the moment, however, he will need to rest for the remainder of the day if he is to be able to attend class again in two days." The nurse informed them.

Both of his godparents were shocked at the mention of Naruto suffering from chakra exhaustion. "Wait, I didn't quite hear you right, did you say chakra exhaustion?" Jiraiya asked to which the nurse nodded in confirmation.

"It's quite understandable that this would be surprising considering that young Naruto here hasn't been successful at even getting a drop of chakra to manifest beforehand." The nurse stated. "It was quite a surprise for everyone here at the academy as well, considering that the Fourth Hokage's son, who prior to today was unable to manifest chakra finally did so during a spar, quite eventful."

"Would you mind if I checked him myself?" Tsunade asked the nurse who nodded and moved out of Tsunade's way. Making her way over to Naruto, Tsunade began checking him over and within a few moments she came to the exact same conclusion as the nurse and couldn't help but smile. "Well it seems you're a bit of a late bloomer." Naruto seemed to relax at this point and chuckled sheepishly.

"How exactly did this come to pass?" Jiraiya asked the nurse, who then proceeded to pull out the account written by Iruka.

"During a sparring match with Kiba Inuzuka Naruto was pushed incredibly much to his sensei's distaste and was about to end the match before more harm could come, however, before he could end it Naruto had managed to unlock his chakra so to speak which manifested for all to see." The nurse summarized before handing over the account to Jiraiya. "That is the full detailed report that I just summarized, it contains all the information for you to look over."

Jiraiya proceeded to take the account from the nurse and look it over, much of it surprised him, although a lot of it he didn't particularly liked. "Thank you, and do you know where the other sensei, Mizuki is?" Jiraiya asked.

"He has been sent home on suspension for the time being for his actions, and there is investigation into possibly other actions he took along those same lines while Iruka wasn't around." The nurse mentioned. "For the time being though Naruto is allowed to return home and rest for the remainder of the day."

"Thank you," Both Jiraiya and Tsunade thanked as Jiraiya picked up Naruto and they made their way over to the Senju compound.

"Huh, I thought I was allowed to go home?" Naruto asked as he was slowly succumbing to the desire to sleep.

"You're staying at the compound tonight that way we can make sure that you're alright, and besides we'll need to check you tomorrow anyway." Tsunade stated before Naruto fell into slumber. "And there's another reason why."

"Chakra exhaustion can be pretty dangerous, although I'm surprised at the fact that he even regained consciousness." Jiraiya stated as they made their way out of the academy building. "Uzumaki's usually have large pools of chakra, and it takes a lot for one to suffer chakra exhaustion."

"When I was checking him over I noticed that his chakra pool was steadily increasing in size, I believe that due to being dormant for so long has caused it surface at slow pace." Tsunade stated. "That would explain the chakra exhaustion he is currently experiencing."

"Perhaps, but for now let's get back to compound first, and then head over to sensei, he'll want to know about this." Jiraiya replied as they continued onwards to the compound. "This might be a blessing in disguise."

"If you're thinking about suggesting putting that fox inside of him then your obviously not considering his own wellbeing, remember what happened to the previous host." Tsunade retorted.

"I'm fully aware of that, however we must consider it to be an option in case we don't find someone else, and preferably after his chakra coils become more stable now that they have chakra flowing through them." Jiraiya explained as they continued their way to the Senju compound where they would drop off Naruto and then head directly to meet their sensei, the Third Hokage.

* * *

Arriving at their sensei's office Tsunade and Jiraiya entered without knocking as they were already expected. Looking up from the papers on his desk the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to have a conversation that would change the future of the entire village. "Tsunade, Jiraiya, come it's time that we talk." Hiruzen motioned them over towards his desk.

"Sorry we're a little late sensei, we had to take care of something involving Naruto." Jiraiya explained causing his sensei to raise a brow.

"Oh, did he get into trouble again?" The Third Hokage as he moved some documents around his desk so that he could put his elbows on the desk without crippling any of them.

"No, in fact something else happened during a spar with one of his fellow students at the academy." Jiraiya started.

"I see, I take it that he got injured?" He asked his students as he wanted to make sure that Naruto was alright.

"Far from it, Naruto has, "awakened" his chakra." Jiraiya gleamed surprising the old Kage who couldn't help but smile.

"That is excellent news, I remember how hard it was for him up until now, so is he well?" Hiruzen asked with excitement glimmering in his old eyes.

"He is currently suffering from low chakra exhaustion as a result from his spar," Tsunade began a short explanation. "I left Shizune to monitor him, it appears that his chakra is slowly beginning to form the essence of his chakra pool, however, his tenketsu are having a difficult time accustoming to something that wasn't normally there for eleven years."

"I see, I do hope to see him walking around as good as new soon, that boy has endured enough as it is." Hiruzen stated before shifting through some of the assorted documents. "This is great news to hear, however we must begin discussing about the Kyuubi issue." Soon the Anbu in the room placed up an invisible barrier preventing anyone from outside the room from listening in on their conversation.

"With Naruto finally able to have chakra flowing through his body now properly, and with a little time he could become the next Jinchuuriki." Jiraiya suggested much to Tsunade's disproval.

"Jiraiya! You can't expect his body to become accustomed to something that has just surfaced!" Tsunade scolded him. "Naruto needs time to get use to his chakra and there is no way he can get accustomed to it by the time we need a Jinchuuriki in barely three months!"

"Tsunade, what would you want us to do if we can't find another person to become the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki?!" Jiraiya questioned her. "Will we just sit back and allow the Kyuubi to break free of its temporary prison and destroy Konoha?!"

"I'm saying what needs to be heard when regarding Naruto's-" Tsunade began before their sensei, the Third Hokage took over the conversation.

"There will be no need for him to become a Jinchuuriki now." Hiruzen interrupted the two causing both to focus their attention back onto their sensei. "Good, now it seems that I have your attention again."

"Sensei, are you saying that you found a possible candidate?" Jiraiya asked as his sensei handed him a report for him to look at. It was a spy report on a young girl around Naruto's age with red hair and eyes who was currently a resident of Kusagakure.

"I have a couple teams already in-route to the location where she is being kept." Hiruzen mentioned surprising the two even more while he inhaled the smoke from his tobacco pipe before finally releasing it to deal with his old nerves. "The party left early yesterday evening after the meeting with the other elders."

"Sensei, how do you know if she is viable enough to already launch a capture mission? For all we know she might not be able to become a Jinchuuriki!" Jiraiya expressed as he wasn't fully convinced about his sensei's decision. "Aside from that your willing to send a team into Kusagakure, they may prefer diplomacy, but their policies are harsh!"

"There is no need to worry about Kusa, I sent a message with the team to give to the village head that should convince them of handing her over." The Third Hokage stated as he pulled out another paper to hand to his students to look at. "Besides I believe it would be in the girl's best interest considering the information we obtained about her, and as for her being a viable candidate she has the blood of the Uzumaki running through her veins, much like another Uzumaki did before her which is a good enough reason to proceed with the mission."

As they continued reading over the sheet both Tsunade and Jiraiya couldn't believe what they were reading came from their sensei. "Sensei, you're willing to offer that much of our own financial resources in exchange for one girl?!" Jiraiya gawked.

"Take this from the someone who gambles often, you're putting a lot on the line here." Tsunade stated although Hiruzen waved it off.

"15% is hardly something to worry about, in fact the council and I deduced that the sum was adequate enough." Hiruzen stated. "Besides that, there are other contingencies that have been set into place."

"When did all of this decision-making take place?!" Jiraiya demanded as he wanted to know why both he and Tsunade were excluded from these discussions.

"The information was delivered by one of your informants directly to me at the end of the meeting, this entitled the council and I to extend the meeting in order to discuss what you've just learned." Sarutobi stated while going back to managing the necessary documents involving the issue.

"What if Kusa demands more than just the 15% increase in trade that your offering, they aren't exactly known for their understanding?" Tsunade asked causing Sarutobi to give them a very serious look.

"The team was handpicked by both me and Danzo, should the need arise they will resort to the next back up plan that has been set for just the occasion." Hiruzen stated as his eyes grew colder.

"Are you planning to go to war for just one person?!" Jiraiya questioned his sensei's judgement.

"I am prepared to do whatever it takes to protect this village, and should the need arise I will do what I think what is necessary to carry out such tasks if it means the village will be safe." Hiruzen stated catching both his students off-guard since their sensei was being deadly serious. "As Hokage it is my duty to protect this village just as my predecessors before me!"

Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to input their own opinions but they knew that there was no chance that they would have been able to convince their sensei to change his mind. Hiruzen knew that his students didn't approve of his methods, but they needed to be done and so he let out a small sigh. "This responsibility is very heavy on the shoulders of the Hokage you must understand, I'm not the only Hokage who has been in this office that has made a tough decision." Hiruzen reasoned.

Jiraiya and Tsunade didn't respond, and so Hiruzen motioned to them that they could leave. Upon doing so the two Sannin took their leave and returned to the Senju Compound to look after Naruto, at the same time the Anbu released the jutsu that kept the barrier up.

Hiruzen's mind was heavy in thought with much of the details of yesterday's meeting and today's weighing heavily on the mind. Putting some documents aside for later the Third Hokage got up from his seat to look over his village from his office windows. The sun was beginning to set and some of the stars in the sky were beginning to become visible in the night sky. 'Senseis, Minato, please continue watching over us during these dark times.' Hiruzen prayed to the deceased.

Looking over his shoulder at the concealed box that was hidden from both Jiraiya and Tsunade's view next to his desk Hiruzen's became even more serious. The box contained black folders that were wrapped together by red bindings with different symbols from many of the varying villages assorted on them. "I fear that we will need all the help we can get if we're going to survive," Hiruzen looked back up at the darkening sky with grimace with his eyes taking in the many stars becoming visible. "when they come."

* * *

The following morning came with an unpleasant start for Naruto as he awoke with a freight. Jiraiya had decided to get back at Naruto for a prank that he did to him a couple weeks back by sticking some vinegar into Naruto's nose. This in turn caused Naruto to wake up and demand answers from his godfather.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR YOU STUPID ERO-SANNIN?!" Naruto demanded while Jiraiya just laughed at Naruto's plight.

"Consider that payback for what you did to me a couple weeks ago when you stuck onion juice up my nose." Jiraiya pointed out even though Naruto was still fuming.

"Why I outta-" Naruto began before being grabbed by Jiraiya and tossed out into the Senju compound's courtyard before rushing at his godson.

At the same time Tsunade and Shizune were busy reading today's newspaper which was just recently delivered. Tonton was resting on Tsunade's lap while the two were conversing on an article about something going on the Land of Wave. The chat was cut short when Naruto was flung directly at Tsunade who proceeded to catch the boy and set him down on the ground.

"I think that's enough play time Jiraiya, Naruto seems to be back to normal." Tsunade stated.

"Just making sure, after all we don't want him to get to hurt since today is the day we're going to get him caught up in chakra control and manipulation." Jiraiya replied as he walked over towards Naruto who was still a little dizzy from Jiraiya flinging him at Tsunade.

"If he was able to move around this morning then that means that he would be able to do such tasks regardless of making him dodge your attacks." Tsunade pointed out causing Jiraiya to scratch his head sheepishly. With that out of the way Jiraiya turned and faced Naruto, who has regained his senses and balance.

"Alright Naruto, now remember how we taught you to control your chakra," Jiraiya began as he wanted Naruto to remember those important lessons that were taught to him. "we want you to do those exact same exercises right now so that we can see this chakra."

Naruto, nodding in understanding, took a deep breath in before slowly releasing it as he relaxed and began to concentrate on the flow of his chakra. The feeling was of the "tingly" sort and shot out across Naruto's body. It was heavy as well, but at the same time almost none existent. Feeling this source of power Naruto began to try and manipulate it by using the methods that he was taught, unknowingly causing it to manifest for his godparents to see. The sudden appearance of the golden chakra surprised them as poor Tonton was startled half to death and ran for cover behind Shizune who was also taken by surprise.

Jiraiya took note of how the chakra sparked out and tore into the ground and surrounding walls, all while Naruto seemingly was unaware of the entire thing. 'This chakra is extremely dense for just a child such as Naruto to have, something like this could only be expected from a Jinchuuriki!' Jiraiya noted to himself.

Tsunade noticed how calm Naruto truly was and decided to try something. Picking up a single rock, which garnered Jiraiya's eye, she tossed it at high speeds towards Naruto much to Jiraiya's surprise. Before he could even protest though the chakra struck out against the rock turning it into dust. "Just as I thought, nobody could remain that calm with all of that chakra tearing up the place, unless they aren't affected by the surrounding stimuli." Tsunade stated.

"What power! To think Naruto's chakra would be this powerful after lying dormant for so long." Jiraiya stated in disbelief. "To turn a rock into dust with a single strike requires a great amount of Power."

"The question is how did his chakra become this way? Minato nor Kushina showed any signs of having similar chakra?" Tsunade asked her old friend.

"Could it be something recessive?" Jiraiya asked.

"I looked up the available information about both of their heritage and found nothing." Tsunade explained. "Minato was a rare individual from a regular shinobi family who had no bloodline, while Kushina, though from the Uzumaki clan, only showed her ability to perform the usual Adamantine Chakra Chains and the other usual Uzumaki bloodline traits."

"Hmm, perhaps it's a mutation that developed as an effect of eleven years ago." Jiraiya wondered aloud.

"Perhaps, and if that's the case it would explain as to why he was unable to produce a single drop of chakra until now." Tsunade concluded. "That still wouldn't explain why it is she didn't show any of the same traits."

"Tsunade, keep it quiet on that part, we don't know if he can still hear us, and it's best he doesn't learn about her." Jiraiya whispered to her forcing her to cease thinking of the topic.

"Sorry, for now though we should try and see if we can get him to stop." Tsunade apologized before they both tried moving up towards Naruto as they did they were nearly struck by Naruto's thrashing chakra. "Well it seems that's out of the question, any ideas?"

"Waiting is an option since we don't want to necessarily harm him, and his chakra is exceptionally dangerous, besides he should be stopping soon since we never specified how long we wanted him to do this." Jiraiya pointed out as they began to wait on Naruto unaware that he was no longer conscious, but instead deep in his subconscious."

* * *

 _Opening his eyes Naruto instantly recognized that he was in his subconscious. "Huh, I was just trying to practice my chakra control and somehow I ended up inside of here." Naruto muttered to himself as he looked around before being nearly swept away by fierce winds as King Ghidorah flew overhead. "HEY WATCH IT!"_

 _Landing on top of a large mountain of stone, Ghidorah looked down at Naruto's tiny form and simply chuckled._ _ **"Your nothing but an insect, why should I be careful around you?"**_ _Ghidorah mocked as he situated himself on top of the mountain._ _ **"By the way how do you like your chakra?"**_ _Naruto was surprised by the fact that Ghidorah had just asked him a question about himself._

 _"I don't know, I only remember that time when I charged at Kiba, and everything after that is a blur." Naruto stated causing Ghidorah to grin. "And how do you know about chakra if you're from outer space?"_

 _ **"I can see the outside world by looking through your eyes and I can hear things through your ears."**_ _Ghidorah answered, though he noticed Naruto was looking at him confused._ _ **"aside from that I have other ways of finding out information that I won't tell you about."**_ _Naruto glared at the golden dragon skeptically. A chuckle was slowly forming in the middle head's throat. Naruto was questioning his response already._

" _ **It seems as though you do have a brain to think with."**_ _Ghidorah bellowed in laughter at his host, causing Naruto to intensify his expression into a glare._ _ **"As for your chakra, you should be thanking me because there was some kind of seal suppressing it."**_ _This alarmed Naruto almost immediately as he wanted to know where that came from and why it was restricting him from the beginning._

 _"How did that get there and how did you destroy it?!" Naruto immediately began asking much to Ghidorah's annoyance._

 _ **"How would I know when it got placed there! I destroyed it so that's that, as for how I blew it up, I used my powers to destroy it during your pathetic match against that mutt!"**_ _Ghidorah answered before recomposing himself as he wasn't about to let Naruto get to him._ _ **"Now listen to what I'm about to tell you brat, this concerns your chakra and the reason it's like it is."**_

 _"Wait, what's wrong with my chakra?" Naruto asked before receiving a bolt of electricity striking towards his side startling him._

 _ **"Never interrupt me kid."**_ _Ghidorah bluntly stated, although Naruto felt like it was more of an order._ _ **"When I destroyed the seal that was placed over your chakra I inadvertently caused your chakra to mutate upon using my Gravity Beam to do so. This has resulted in your chakra becoming dense and wild, and from what I have just heard from your guardians it seems to rival that of those called Jinchuuriki."**_

 _"Jinchuuriki..." Naruto repeated as he knew full well what a Jinchuuriki was due to his godparents being Sannin. He remembers the stories he heard from them of how Jinchuuriki contained a biju within themselves. "Power of Human Sacrifice..."_

 _ **"Is that what that means, how trivial, those who have power should be grateful for it, and use it to make themselves respected and awed upon."**_ _Ghidorah retorted._ _ **"Otherwise they'll be nothing but pieces of flesh for the starving beasts around them to gorge themselves over."**_

 _"If they did that then they would be hated even more," Naruto began. "Hatred forms from more hatred, a long never-ending cycle that will go on for generations to come, peace is what everyone should strive for instead."_

 _ **"I never said that you could go all philosophical in here kid, and whoever told you that was right about hatred, however, peace is but an illusion that mortals dream of only to be destroyed at the sight of conflict."**_ _Ghidorah explained._ _ **"I have seen it many times while traveling the universe, and many times I was the cause of that conflict."**_

 _"You really are a coldhearted monster aren't you!" Naruto exclaimed at Ghidorah who snickered in response._

 _ **"Now your complimenting me, first throwing idiotic philosophy down my throats, and now you trying to butter me up."**_ _Ghidorah mocked as he leaned downwards off the mountain._ _ **"To bad I'm hard to please."**_ _Bellowing out once more Ghidorah reeled up back into a sitting position from atop the mountain he was currently perched on._

 _"Why is it that you really pulled me back here?" Naruto demanded. "You hardly seem like the type that would worry over someone else's wellbeing."_

 _ **"You're right to think that way, because that is exactly what I'm like, however, since I have to stay in your body for unknown reasons I'm merely looking after my own safety."**_ _Ghidorah stated._ _ **"That chakra is deadly and if you're not careful it will kill you, and then that will really piss me off."**_

 _"Wait your saying as a trade-off for the stronger chakra I have to deal with the possibility of immanent death?!" Naruto exclaimed. This was not going well at all and he was becoming terrified at the fact that the very source of power he had been trying to use for so long finally surfaces only to be the cause for his own death should he not be careful._

 _ **"It's not immanent, rather there will always be that possibility so long as your body remains the way it is."**_ _Ghidorah clarified._ _ **"If you don't want to die then I suggest getting stronger, your body will grow and adapt to this power, however, you must tread carefully from here on out."**_

 _"Then can you teach me how to prepare my body?" Naruto asked Ghidorah who quickly denied the request._

 _ **"As I stated before you're too weak for me to consider training you in the slightest, consider this a test if you will."**_ _Ghidorah explained._ _ **"If your body adapts to this new chakra and you become stronger, then I might consider you strong enough to train you, otherwise you'll nothing more than a liability in the making."**_ _His words were harsh and Ghidorah wanted them to be that way. There was no need for weakness in his vessel, if there was then he would have to destroy it._

 _Naruto just sent a glare towards the larger Kaiju while all three of Ghidorah's heads looked down at him. Ghidorah looked into Naruto's eyes and saw the strength held within them, but as he looked deeper into them there was fear, and that was all Ghidorah needed to see. Pulling his heads back up Ghidorah charged up his power causing the Naruto's mindscape to erupt into a thunderstorm with fierce howling winds._

 _ **"Your still too weak, the next time you come back here you had better be stronger!"**_ _Ghidorah yelled as he flapped his wings sending forth powerful hurricane winds directly at Naruto forcing him into the air and out of his mindscape._ _ **"This will be the last time I pull him in too... now then where did I leave off while exploring this mind?"**_ _Looking around Ghidorah quickly remembered and took to the air heading towards the location._ _ **'Time to find out why I can't fully manipulate the boy the entire time I'm in here.'**_

* * *

Waking up from his subconscious Naruto saw that both Jiraiya and Tsunade were standing directly in front of him. Confusion was taking effect as Naruto was wondering why they were standing closer to him when they were further back beforehand. "I told you it wouldn't take long, only ten minutes went by." Jiraiya told Tsunade who waved Jiraiya aside while walking up to Naruto.

"Well we've concluded that it will take you quite some time to get use to your chakra, however, this just means that whatever jutsu you use in the future will be much more powerful." Tsunade started making Naruto a little confused.

"Why would they be more powerful?" Naruto asked.

"Your chakra is naturally heavier and denser than a normal shinobi's, in fact it's almost as dense as a jinchuuriki's chakra, while using their biju." Tsunade explained to him. "So whatever techniques you learn in the future will be much more powerful, although harder to perform."

Naruto quickly recalled what Ghidorah had explained to him about his chakra. 'So, the density of the chakra determines the power behind the attack.' Naruto thought before something else came to mind that he wanted to ask them. "Does that mean that I have to try harder than normal?"

"Yes, it may be hard for you, but we'll be beside you all the way!" Tsunade answered.

"However, before we can do anything like learning jutsu we need to teach you chakra control methods that will help you control that dense chakra of yours." Jiraiya stated as he expressed his input. "Now since the density of your chakra is far greater than a normal shinobi this will require a particular touch that I think will help you."

"Okay, so these new chakra exercises, what exactly are they and how will they help me?" Naruto asked Jiraiya who proceeded to fly through some hand signs before performing the summoning jutsu.

The result was a puff of smoke appearing where Jiraiya's hand contacted the ground. Naruto had heard the stories of how his godparents were able to summon large summoning animals that they had contracts with, and how they were able to use them in battle against deadly adversaries. As the smoke lifted a small green toad with white thick eyebrows, white hair in a Mohawk like manner, and a little small goatee appeared.

"What is it Jiraiya-boy, I was just about to have me some of Ma's tasty cooking before you summoned me unannounced?" The small toad asked while seemingly annoyed.

"Sorry about that, but I wanted you to meet someone that will need your help." Jiraiya apologized before gesturing towards Naruto. The small toad in question looked over at the boy with analytical eyes as he quickly picked up on the family resemblance.

"Is this Minato's son Jiraiya-boy?" The toad asked resulting in Naruto wanting to ask him some questions about his father. "If so then why is it that his chakra is extremely dense? You didn't put it inside of him, did you?" This caused Jiraiya to overreact as he attempted to silence the toad.

"Put what in me?" Naruto asked them as he was starting to question what the toad was talking about. "And how does this toad know my dad?"

"Naruto this here is Fukasaku, a toad sage from Mount Myōboku, he's going to help you with your chakra exercises while I'm away and Tsunade's busy at the hospital." Jiraiya explained surprising both Naruto and Fukasaku.

"Wait you summoned me just to help train this kid in chakra exercises?!" Fukasaku exclaimed before hopping up and bopping Jiraiya in the head sending his face into the ground. Tsunade merely shook her head as she expected this kind of response from the toad sage, especially considering that this was a request coming out of the blue.

'Holy crap that Grandpa toad just took down Ero-Sannin!' Naruto thought as he was a little terrified of this small toad called Fukasaku. Said small toad was busy yelling at Jiraiya, who wasn't able to defend himself much like when he angers Tsunade. Tsunade decided to get Fukasaku's attention so that Jiraiya could explain the situation to him.

"Lord Fukasaku, please excuse Jiraiya's rudeness, but the reasoning behind why he summoned you is rather important." Tsunade attempted to sway the small toad's favor. Looking over at the princess herself Fukasaku hopped over to her still annoyed.

"Jiraiya made it pretty clear that he wants me, a great toad sage, to help him teach a child how to control chakra," Fukasaku started. "it's embarrassing that the child I once taught years ago would need help with such a trivial problem as this!"

"That may be true, however, Naruto here has chakra that is far denser than a normal shinobi should have unless they were a Jinchuuriki." Tsunade explained making the toad rather curious at the fact of the mention of Naruto's chakra.

"Denser you say, well perhaps, wait NO!" The small toad exclaimed. "Jiraiya should still be able to teach him chakra control regardless of the density, and even you who has a rather pristine chakra control should have no problems with it!"

"Pa if you just let us show you the problem, then maybe you would understand our situation." Jiraiya offered as he picked himself up from the ground. Though the toad was annoyed he wasn't unreasonable and would let them show him the problem.

"Fine Jiraiya-boy, however, this had better not be a waste of my time otherwise Ma will have both of our heads." Fukasaku stated as Jiraiya walked up to Naruto who had decided to remain quite through most of the exchange.

"Alright Naruto your gonna have to show Pa over there your chakra, so that way he can understand what it is we need his help on." Jiraiya explained. Naruto was hesitant, he remembered Ghidorah's words of caution when using this chakra, which made him quite nervous.

"Uhm, what if I can't manifest it like a few minutes ago?" Naruto asked Jiraiya who placed his hand on his shoulder but still had a smile on his face.

"Then you won't have a living godfather anymore." Jiraiya stated jokingly, although Naruto could see the small-tell signs of fear spreading across Jiraiya's face. Looking over at Tsunade she was also a little nervous, but Naruto didn't quite understand why, other than the fact that someone called "Ma" would have both Jiraiya's and the Grandpa sage toad's head. Looking further back Naruto could see that Shizune and Tonton were hiding behind a fallen table, more than likely to avoid contact with the toad and to have it as a shield.

"Okay, I'll do it." Naruto reluctantly agreed allowing Jiraiya to release a small sigh of relief.

Jiraiya walked back over to Tsunade and Fukasaku before nodding to her to let her know that Naruto was going to do it. "Alright Naruto is getting ready, although we'll need to move back Pa." Jiraiya stated causing a confused look to take place on the small toad's face. Deciding to humor him Fukasaku hopped onto his shoulder as Jiraiya and Tsunade walked back a bit from Naruto. "Naruto you can start whenever you're ready."

Feeling the pressure that was riding on this Naruto was a little hesitant at first, not just because of his current situation, but also because he didn't want to reenter his mindscape and get yelled at again by Ghidorah. 'I'm starting to see why Shikamaru considers everything troublesome.' Naruto thought to himself as he took the same position he did last time to gather his chakra.

Taking a deep breath Naruto began to concentrate on the flow of his chakra. Fukasaku noted how the boy remained calm and noticed the position he was in. "I see you've taught the boy the same meditative stance that I taught you long ago." Fukasaku pointed out making Jiraiya grin. "A rather risky decision if you ask me, he could have ended up gathering nature energy."

"Believe it or not that was what I was hoping for in a way." Jiraiya stated surprising Fukasaku who hit him in the head again.

"What an irresponsible guardian! Do you want him to turn to stone?!" Fukasaku yelled at him.

"I only taught him the part for focusing his inner energies, I didn't explain senjutsu to him or anything, and the reason for that is because his chakra never surfaced until yesterday." Jiraiya mentioned.

"Come again?" Fukasaku asked as he wanted some clarification of what he just heard.

Naruto wasn't paying the group any mind as he was focusing on feeling his chakra and attempting to balance his energies. It didn't take long for the tingly feeling to surface again, although this time it wasn't as weird a feeling as it was before. Concentrating more on his chakra Naruto delve deeper into the source until finally it erupted to life.

Fukasaku and Jiraiya were in a heated argument when Naruto's chakra sparked to life startling the old toad who looked onward with wide eyes. Feeling the power shooting off Naruto, Fukasaku lost much of his composure upon registering the feeling that it was emitting. "Jiraiya-boy, how did you get that boy's chakra to contain nature energy?!" Fukasaku demanding surprising Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Come again?! Naruto doesn't have nature energy in his chakra, otherwise we would have sensed it beforehand." Tsunade stated although seeing the small toad sage sweating profusely as well as the expression he was barring made her question otherwise.

"It's not enhancing his normal chakra like when either of you use senjutsu, that chakra is infused with nature energy!" Fukasaku stated. "This boy isn't turning to stone, his chakra is like lightening from a raging storm, such power and ferocity can only be matched by nature itself!" Jiraiya and Tsunade were speechless for a lack of better terms.

Fukasaku watched as the chakra sparked and cracked around Naruto encompassing him within its light. 'This child...to be able to do such a feat has been unheard of for over a thousand years!' Fukasaku thought as he took in the sight.

Naruto was beginning to lose composure as he was starting to lose his control over his chakra. Eventually it became noticeable to the others when the visible golden chakra began to recede away seemingly back into Naruto, who upon release let out a heavy sigh and decided to take a rest.

Tsunade was the first to respond to the change by making her way over to Naruto and checking him over. Finding nothing essentially wrong with the blond academy student she waved a sign to Jiraiya signaling that everything was okay. "So, Pa, what do you think?" Jiraiya asked the small toad who was still reeling back from what he just witnessed.

"Jiraiya-boy I must head back to Mount Myōboku immediately and speak with the Great Toad Sage about what just happened!" Fukasaku stated as he prepared to reverse summon himself back to Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya was taken back as he wasn't expecting this kind of reaction.

"Is everything okay Pa?!" Jiraiya questioned only to see Fukasaku shaking nervously.

"What I just witnessed is something unnatural," Fukasaku began with a mutter. "A child born with such a gift has been unheard of since the time of the Sage of Six Paths, let alone that chakra was as fierce as a thunderstorm. I must speak with the Great Toad Sage to learn what steps must be taken to ensure Naruto's future is secured."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Jiraiya was confused as Fukasaku wasn't explaining anything to him other than the fact that Naruto's chakra is infused with nature energy for some reason. Suddenly his mind was hit with a stunning conclusion that made Fukasaku's reactions justifiable. "Do you think that Naruto is the child of prophecy?"

"That is what I intend to find out," Fukasaku stated. "I will return to Mount Myōboku first and speak with the Great Sage, afterwards regardless if the boy is the child of prophecy or not I will assist in teaching him. A child being born with such a gift is but one chance in several generations and should be molded and taught to use that power for the better good."

"Very well I will tell Tsunade and we will await your return." Jiraiya replied as he watched Fukasaku reverse summon himself back to his homeland. Many thoughts were filling Jiraiya's mind, many of which he felt unprepared for. Turning to watch Naruto and Tsunade, who called over to Shizune to go and get some water for Naruto, Jiraiya didn't know what to expect from here on. 'If Naruto is the child of prophecy, then that means the other parts of the prophecy will begin to emerge...'

Finally snapping out of his stupor Jiraiya made his way to the group to check on Naruto as well. He wasn't about to allow Minato's only son to drawn into something such as the prophecy without proper guidance, and he'll have to inform the Third Hokage of his new decision.

* * *

In the Land of Grass, a small shinobi village stood at the base of a massive grassland with hardly any trees to be seen. This village was called Kusagakure, the village hidden in the grass, and it was one of shrewdest shinobi villages in the elemental nations. Known for their diplomacy, the village tries to stay one step ahead of the crowd by analyzing the movements of the other countries around them.

That and their analytical sense of studying other techniques from other villages has made it, along with its shinobi, hard to read. However, the village was completely unprepared for when two teams of shinobi from Konoha arrived at their gates. The guards on hand were suspicious since many of the shinobi wore white masks hiding their faces from view.

One of the guards on duty walked over to the group to begin the procedures necessary to enter the village. "That's far enough Konoha-nin, we'll need to see your identifications and necessary documentation before you are allowed to enter our village." The guard explained as a Konoha shinobi with spiky silver hair and a mask covering the lower parts of his face walked up to him.

"We have an important message that needs to be delivered to the Kusakage." The silver haired shinobi explained as he showed the guard a sealed document with the Hokage's seal. "It's important that we deliver it to him immediately and we ask that you please let us in quickly."

The guard saw the seal and recognized it from among the many seals any guard on duty would need to recognize. It was genuine, more importantly it was the Hokage's seal with the Kanji for dragon underneath it's indention signifying importance. The guard quickly moved aside and allowed the group to enter, while the fellow guards were completely perplexed.

"Hey why did you let them enter without checking their ID's?!" A fellow guard demanded.

"The seal on the document was the Hokage's with the kanji for Dragon imbedded underneath it." The guard replied a little shaky causing many of the other guards' eyes to widen. "The very same seal that is only used before war breaks out."

"You don't think this has something to do with those folders that one of the other guards saw that were on their way to the Kusakage do you?" A guard whispered to the others. "You know the black and red ones with the assorted village symbols one them."

"Something tells me the peace and quiet won't last much longer." Another of the guards stated as they watched the group of Konoha shinobi disappear from their viewpoints.

Said group of shinobi were currently making their way to the center of the village where they were to meet with its Kage. "Kakashi, do you think that the Kusakage will understand the reasoning behind this exchange?" One of the masked Anbu following the silver spiked haired shinobi.

"Let's hope so Tenzo, otherwise we'll have to resort to the backup plans that have been set into place." Kakashi replied to his colleague. "This message should put some sway of the negotiations in our favor, although the rest will but up to us."

The group continued onwards before they noticed the building they were looking for came into view. "There is the hospital that was mentioned in the reports, 3 and 4 should be preparing right about now." Tenzo mentioned quietly. "Let's hope it doesn't come down to having them move in."

"Yosh! I'd prefer it if it was just us involved personally!" A loud voice sounded. The others turned to face a man in a green jumpsuit with a jonin flak jacket, he was wearing orange sweatbands on his legs, and black hair done in a bowl cut. "The additional members of this mission are not the sort I'd prefer working with."

"You can say that again," A man with short black spiky hair and a beard stated as he lit another cigarette. "I'm sure that we are enough to handle this mission."

"For once I find myself agreeing with Guy and Asuma, this mission may be important, but root shouldn't be involved." A woman with long black untamed hair reaching her upper back and red eyes with an addition ring in them agreed. "This mission requires a certain touch those mindless brutes aren't capable of."

"To be fair Kurenai, Danzo told them to ensure the girl's safety above all else, so they will take her wellbeing into consideration." Tenzo mentioned.

"Surprising that the heartless bastard would say such words." Kurenai spat. "That war hawk is only concerned about the girl because she is important to the village, and he'll think of her as nothing but another tool!" The other members of the party heading to the Kusakage decided to remain quiet, mostly as to not get riled up with the other jonin, and because they were on the job and it wouldn't look well for Konoha if its Anbu complained about some of the heads of interior.

Turning another corner their destination was clearly in their view now. It was three stories tall, however, it wasn't as large or glamorous as the Hokage tower back in Konoha. The design was simple and yet elegant at the same time, the building had the kanji for grass on it and it was there that their mission would truly begin. "We have a few days to negotiate and head back to the village, normally this type of mission would take about two weeks in order for everything to be done properly, however, we don't have that sort of time and the Hokage needs us back as well." Kakashi stated to the group. 'Let's just hope this doesn't' actually lead to a war.'

The heavy burden that the group had to carry with them to this village was about to reach its destination, although many of them were all wondering whether the negotiations would succeed or fail. Hoping for the former rather than the latter the group picked up the pace a little as they had a very important message that needed to be read.

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **There we go, Chapter 3 is ready to go. Now I'm on a role. Getting this story uploaded onto this account is going smoother than expected, though I am cleaning out these chapters still, so please bear in mind.**

 **Now, I'll take this time to state that Naruto's powers aren't technically senjutsu. This is just a side-effect of Ghidorah's gravity beams destroying the seal. Originally, I had a different reason, but I got rid of it. Naruto's chakra is unique though, but I'll simply say that it's because he is still the reincarnation of Asura.**

 **I can already tell though some of you will question why it is that Naruto is receiving training from Fukasaku so early. Well to be honest considering his chakra density, and no one knowing that he is Ghidorah's vessel, everyone is just making their own presumptions. Naruto won't reveal the truth anytime soon so for now they'll be stuck thinking that Naruto is a once in a thousand generations child when he's not. Yes, he'll be strong, but his strength and skill will be derived from Ghidorah and who it is training him to hone his power.**

 **With that out of the way I'm off to go and finish the rest of the chapters. Take it easy everybody and I'll catch you later. Peace!**


	4. New Challenges

**Shin here with Chapter 4. I'm starting to consider just copy and paste the intro in the Author notes by this point, but then again that would take away from my character. I'm halfway done now and I'm still editing the last four chapters. Chapter 9 will probably not be posted until this weekend sadly though.**

 **Since I really don't have anything to add here in this author note section I guess I'll just use it to explain some things about this story. I know some new people who are reading this are probably wondering about the story, so I'll explain. There are currently five big arcs planned. Apart from the intro to the Chunin exams there will be some small-time skips, although I will probably add an arc or two in-between some of the arcs. All five main arcs are already planned out, I just want a sense of development to be visible. This part of the story will go all the way up into Shippuden era, so basically to Naruto becoming sixteen.**

 **I will also state that everything past the Chunin Exams will be original content for the most part. This is a different story with the same themes however, so things will be done differently.**

 **Disclaimer: The following fanfiction is a fan-based parody, Naruto is owned by TV Tokyo, Massashi Kishimoto, and Viz Media; Godzilla is owned by Toho pictures, please support the official release.**

* * *

Chapter 4: New Challenges...

The representatives of the Hokage from Konoha made their way into the main government building in the middle of Kusagakure. Only two were allowed entrance, Kakashi and Tenzo, while the others had to wait outside until the meeting was over in order to learn how the negotiations went. For Kakashi and Tenzo, they were both keeping their wits about them as they knew full well that the Kusakage was someone that should never be underestimated.

Kusagakure was an information hub for any and all information across the elemental nations, especially pertaining to their bordering neighbors. This was a result of the Third Shinobi War, when the land Kusa resided in was turned into a battleground and resulted in it becoming subjected to the terrors of war.

The shinobi of Kusa are considerable diplomats as they carry an uncanny sense of analysis for both politics and shinobi techniques that has allowed them to remain one step ahead of the other nations around it. This meant that Kakashi and Tenzo were about to be in the presence of a shinobi, whom is considered the best in his village of shrewd analytics, with that in mind they made their way to their destination.

Upon arriving at the door to the Kusakage's office the secretary knocked on the door before checking with the Kusakage to see if he was ready for them or not. Once given the go ahead the secretary moved out of the way and motioned the two Konoha shinobi into the office. As the two entered the office they took note of how the office was sparsely decorated with décor leaving much of the room to appear plain.

At the back of the office was a panel of windows that would allow the Kusakage to look out at his village and observe from afar. There were no pictures of any past Kusakages, which was another difference when compared to the Hokage office back in Konoha. They took note of how organized and spotless everything was, including the desk, which even back in Konoha was something of an oddity as they expected to see papers or assorted documents on the surface of it.

Sitting at the desk in a brown leather chair was a middle aged man around the same age as Kakashi and Tenzo with the traditional Kusakage garments that had hints of light green on it and his hat that was laid down right beside where his hands were resting on his desk. He had short brown hair that was slightly unruly with green eyes and a scar across the right side of his face.

His expression was blank, as to be expected, not betraying his thoughts in the slightest. Tenzo was glad that he was still wearing his Anbu mask, but he knew he needed to keep composed because the Kusakage is expected to be able to read an individual's body language. Kakashi had similar thoughts as he also kept himself composed and made sure to keep a sense of calm about him.

"Come forward, I'm not going to kill you or anything." The Kusakage motioned the two over with his hands. The two did as they were asked and were awaiting for the Kusakage to speak first. "It's not everyday that I get visitors from one of the "Big Five", especially shinobi."

"It's an honor to meet you Lord Kusakage, my name is Kakashi Hatake and this is Tenzo." Kakashi introduced.

"Yes, the son of the Infamous White Fang and the forbidden experiment created in a tube, I am already well in-depth with whom is standing in front of me." The Kusakage stated unnerving both men at the fact that he knew who they were, specifically Tenzo. "Come now, it shouldn't be a surprise that I know of his past Kakashi, after all this is Kusagakure where we make it our business to know everything."

Kakashi and Tenzo remained silent as they watched the Kusakage pull out a file from one of his desk drawers before placing it out in front of him and closing the drawer. Opening the file the Kusakage took out the documents and sorted them to his own accord. Once he was finished doing that he held up a document and began looking over the details once more.

"I trust that you two are aware of the confines that these documents hold, correct?" The Kusakage asked nonchalantly while never looking away from the document.

"Yes, all of us that were sent out onto this mission were fully informed of the information prior to setting out from the village." Kakashi answered. "This way this exchange could go by quicker and easier for both parties as you are a very busy man."

"Indeed I am, running my village is my top priority and anything that takes me away from my work prolongs the development and prosperity of my village." The Kusakage replied bluntly. Both Kakashi and Tenzo slowly began to realize that they were facing a man whom was far more than they were expecting. "The suddenness of this request is very unlike the Konoha of the past, but not entirely so since it did make our nation a battleground."

"My Lord Kusakage, we apologized long ago and even funneled in funds and assisted in reconstruction, surely you must realize that we weren't the ones who intentionally wanted that war." Kakashi expressed. "You must have known that it was Iwagakure that infiltrated your homeland in order to strike at our borders, we were only trying to repel them during the Third Shinobi World War."

"Do not forget that I was alive during that time "Sharingan Kakashi", and believe me when I say that I hold more of a grudge to Iwa than Konoha, as for what I meant was the sudden surge of shinobi sent over into our lands combating against Iwa and ignoring the safety of my people, many of whom were slaughtered in the conflict for supporting Konoha." The Kusakage mentioned while temporarily setting his gaze on Kakashi before returning to the document. "However, I also remember the aid Konoha sent, it helped my family and others, but for many others it was to late for them."

A unsteady silence set amongst the people in the room, none of them were speaking only observing. The Kusakage let out an annoyed sigh before placing the document back down upon his desk and sitting back into his chair resting his head on his hand with his arm prompted up on the arm of his chair. His postured exclaimed boredom but his facial expression displayed neutrality, a sense of confusion and unfamiliarity settled into Kakashi and Tenzo's minds.

"The exchange will not happen." The Kusakage stated abruptly ending the enduring silence of the room.

"What?!" Tenzo accidently stuttered out-loud.

"Need I say it again, the exchange will not happen." The Kusakage repeated with a little annoyance evident in his voice. Tenzo was confused as to why the Kusakage was refusing such a beneficial deal in exchange for seemingly nothing. Kakashi though remained stoic as he began calculating exactly what he would need to say within the next few moments.

"Does something within the deal unsatisfied you Lord Kusakage?" Kakashi asked gaining the attention of the Kusakage away from Tenzo. "May we hear what the reasons are so that we may appropriate changes to the deal?" This caused the Kusakage to subtlety raise an eyebrow as though not expecting such a response.

"Do you have the authority to change the deal at will Kakashi?" The Kusakage asked of him.

"Yes, it was stated by the Hokage that we are allowed to change the deal within certain parameters that would better support the transition of this deal." Kakashi explained. The Kusakage then straightened himself up in his seat as he pulled up a specific document from the many on his desk.

"This girl is very important to your village isn't she?" The Kusakage asked driving the conversation into a new direction, but a move that Kakashi knew would happen eventually.

"Yes, she was a relative of one of our late shinobi, whose will was recently discovered that entitles her to an estate, and one of the wishes that was contained in the will was that she would be returned to Konoha to live where her family once did." Kakashi explained in detail.

"Interesting, when did this shinobi die and why did it take so long for the will to be found?" The Kusakage questioned in an analytical way. Kakashi though remained strong as he thought back to the example that he knew of personally for ideas.

"She passed away about eleven years ago this past October, and as for her will you may recall the little incident our village had at that time and how we were still finding dead two weeks afterwards, not to mention the loss of valuables and displacement of personal property." Kakashi began. "Someone had originally mistaken one of her dressers for their own and not long ago realized that there was a board in one of the drawers that was hiding the will, upon discovery they turned it into the Civil Service Department."

"And why was it that I did not receive any official documentation of this will, surely if this was the case then the Civil Service Department would have sent along documents to prove this accusation." The Kusakage pointed out causing Kakashi to flinch slightly.

'Damn this man is shrewd, Kakashi was doing decent up until now, but how will he fair now?' Tenzo thought as he looked over slightly to his companion and noticed that blank expression Kakashi had, that to anyone else meant nothing, but Tenzo knew that Kakashi was bested and currently lost. 'KAKASHI!' Tenzo was now more worried than prior to taking this mission.

'This guy is really starting to push it.' Kakashi noted while keeping his expressionless mask on to make it harder for him to be figured out. 'This guy is clever, as to be expected, asking questions that are continually pressing down onto the receiver trying to crush them and make them practically puddy in their hands. However, that won't work here, not since Lord Third gave me the one phrase that can turn this around.'

"Come now Kakashi explain to me why it was that the documentation was not in order." The Kusakage urged. Tenzo was growing slightly concerned that Kakashi didn't know how to respond, he hadn't given any clear sign of change from the same stoic expression since his flinch.

Kakashi finally broke his stupor, much to Tenzo's immediate relief, however, the main concern of whether or not Kakashi still had an excuse or not was still pressing onto his mind. "Well there is a reason for that, however, I was not entirely informed as to the reason for the documents not being organized and sent to you on the account that our Hokage is having to focus on many _Black_ binders with _Red_ bindings." Kakashi answered quickly receiving a flash of understanding from the Kusakage as to what Kakashi was referring to. "I apologize for not stating it first, but I'm not well informed in this matter, none of us who were sent out on this mission were. We only know that the administration is seemingly in frenzy for unknown causes and is trying to restrain itself."

"I see..." The Kusakage started to remove himself from his prone posture as the mentioning the binders seemed to have caused the man before them to tense up and both Kakashi and Tenzo noticed that the man was trying to restrain himself in front of them. "In light of that information reaching me now, I can see why the documents wouldn't have been sent along with the sudden notice."

"We do apologize for that, the notice itself was made in a hurry and was only able to get passed on after Lord Third happened upon a conversation between two administrators." Kakashi explained to the Kusakage.

The Kusakage seemingly understanding the situation in Konoha knew about the hardships one would have with their administration during such times, however, there was still something that needed to be said. "I can sympathize with Konoha's administration, however, I will not work liars sent to get what ever their Kage wants." Kakashi and Tenzo tensed up as they weren't expecting anything after such a response prior to this.

"What are you referring to Lord Kusakage, are you implying that we, the envoys of the current Third Hokage, are-" Kakashi began before being cut off by the Kusakage.

"Lying, yes you are, honestly who do you think I am." The Kusakage mentioned causing both Konoha shinobi to curse silently. "Mixing lies with truth is an easy way to make something sound convincing, and in any other case you would have gotten me, however, as Kusakage I am made aware of every single move a shinobi makes in the Elemental Nations, and the recent death of your Jinchuriki has caused Konoha to search outward for potential candidates to host the Kyuubi."

Both Kakashi and Tenzo were flabbergasted at the sudden statement that was just thrown at them, and questions began to forage in their heads as to how such delicate information that was suppose to be covered up by Jiraiya personally be discovered at all. The Kusakage though was getting far more annoyed than before as he looked at the two.

"I hate repeating myself, it should be of no surprise that I would know this information, honestly were you implying that we are a bunch of armatures over here? You would be foolish to think so!" The Kusakage exerted as he applied slight force into his words to ensure that the message was clear.

'To think that Kusagakure has enough skill and resources that they would be able to obtain information that only a select group even know about and is protected by Jiraiya's spy network! This is a threat to any and all national security if anyone is able to obtain even this classified information, let alone any of our troop movements or our village's current number of shinobi in the village at a given time!' Tenzo thought as he came to realization of the threat that was in front of him.

Kakashi was adamant in his decision making, not really sure of what he should do next Kakashi decided to just keep going. "Lord Kusakage, such information shouldn't be available to you, considering the group of people whom know this information and the individuals keeping it from surfacing." Kakashi stated.

"If you want to know we weren't planning on selling it or anything, just keeping it handy as we waited to see if you were going to come over our way for our Uzumaki to make her the next Kyuubi Jinchuriki." The Kusakage mentioned as he leaned back into his chair and crossing his arms. "It's always important to have your cards in order when it comes to dealing, but of coarse Konoha sends in someone who can meet our demands in exchange for the girl, something that was foreseen."

"You can't imply that you expected us to show up all this time?!" Tenzo spoke aloud causing the Kusakage to do something that was the first during the whole time they were there, he smirked, but he didn't just smirk he was grinning from ear to ear as he chuckled at their plight.

"Honestly it wasn't hard to deduce that you would come here. You need an Uzumaki first and foremost and I have one, but of coarse you could have found one somewhere else, but considering they're near extinct it's safe to say that there are only a handful left with that useless boy in your village and the girl in mine." The Kusakage boasted causing both Kakashi and Tenzo to send daggers at the man for his comment on Naruto. "Careful now you wouldn't want to cause an international incident that could jeopardize everything that your village has been working so hard to achieve."

Both Kakashi and Tenzo were really starting to dispise this man as they realize just what kind of person he truly was. "So, it seems that there are snakes in the grass after all." Kakashi retorted.

"Please, spare me any of your banter, as a Kage I have to put my village before everything else and in this case I'm going to exploit this whole event to my favor and you can't afford to say no." The Kusakage chuckled. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"You don't know what your doing do you?! If you anger our village you know full well what would happen to you!" Tenzo exclaimed at the man.

"Oh, what's the old monkey going to do? Sick that old hawk at me? They're nothing more than old sacs of flesh that are good for nothing but wasting air." The Kusakage replied. This angered both shinobi as they respected their Hokage, not so much Danzo, but nobody disrespects their leader.

"Then pray tell, what would your demands be if say we were to continue these trade discussions?" Kakashi asked wanting to know what exactly they had in mind from the very beginning.

"Heh, if we were to exchange the girl then we would be loosing out on a powerful bloodline, one that could help make us stronger, so if we're going to exchange her we must receive something of equal value in exchange." The Kusakage stated making both shinobi realize what it was they were after the whole time. "In exchange for the girl you must hand over either a Hyuga or one of the surviving Uchiha clan members otherwise this deal will be considered void."

"All you leaders are the same, wanting bloodlines in order to make yourselves stronger, it makes me sick!" Tenzo abruptly stated as his emotions were starting to get the better of him. He was about to make a move on the Kusakage just for that alone, but Kakashi brought his arm out in order to stop him from doing anything of the sort.

"I'm afraid such demands are not in our best interest Kusakage, having to separate a member of either clan from their families is a rather painful sight to see, and could emotional damage the person if not treated properly." Kakashi countered.

"A true statement yes, but here at Kusagakure we would ensure that they would live a comfortable life in exchange for establishing a clan here in our village." The Kusakage explained.

"You would deny them active role in your military?" Kakashi questioned.

"Considering that one of those clans was just recently a victim of a failed genocide resulting in nearly three fourths of it being wiped out in a single night and the other suppressing half of its clan members, I'd say that it wouldn't matter considering they would be far safer here and be allowed to do as they pleased." The Kusakage countered back.

"Do you even see them as human beings?!" Tenzo demanded.

"Well you see the girl as a tool for your own means of war and protection so I see anyone with a bloodline the same way." The Kusakage responded back with the last part stinging both Kakashi and Tenzo. "Honestly, everyone knows that Jinchuriki are nothing more than tools created so that they could be used for the preservation of the elemental nations. In essence they're no longer human once they have that demon placed inside of them!"

Kakashi was reaching the limit of his diplomatic skills, he had tried everything that he learned from his sensei, and even the suggestions that Sarutobi gave him. Faced with the difficult task in front of him a heavy feeling of dread spread itself across Kakashi's being as he looked at the man in front of him blocking his way to freeing the girl and taking her back to Konoha where she would have a better chance at a peaceful life so long as her status isn't revealed.

Even then the info could be leaked by Danzo, however, she wouldn't be the only Uzumaki either, considering Naruto he would be thrilled to meet her and at the very least try to become friends with her. Thinking about it some more he realized that she would more than likely be protected at all times by Anbu in the background and Tsunade and Jiraiya in the foreground.

Kakashi knew full well what the life of a Jinchuriki is like considering the stories he heard about Kushina in her past and how his sensei was always there to help her and make her happy when she was down. The same could very easily happen but so long as people are there for her then maybe...

"I think this game has gone on long enough, either meet our demands or leave, I have other things to do today and your just wasting my time." The Kusakage stated aloud. Kakashi reflecting on his passing thoughts was fueled with new ambition that became evident in his posture and gaze, something the Kusakage noticed.

"Indeed this game has gone on long enough, and now your going to agree to the exchange presented to you." Kakashi declared with force causing the Kusakage to scowl out of spite.

"You dare to order me, I hold all the cards here Kakashi, or did you forget that?!" The Kusakage exclaimed. Tenzo looked over at his companion and noticed the look of determination that was evident in his lone eye, the same look he saw when they were confronted by 'Root' long ago. Kakashi began reaching into his back pouch while never removing his gaze from the Kusakage as he remembered the last words that his Hokage gave him before leaving for this mission.

* * *

 _"Kakashi, I fear that even if you try your hardest to convince the Kusakage into accepting the deal, he still might not take it." Sarutobi mentioned to Kakashi who was standing in front of his desk getting the last amount of details before meeting up with his assigned team for the mission._

 _"What do you mean Lord Hokage, surely I should be able to persuade the Kusakage into accepting the deal." Kakashi tried convincing his leader. "A man such as him may be shrewd but I have sensei's teachings at my disposal, as well as your guidance and authority in these dealings."_

 _"That might not be enough this time Kakashi, the Kusakage is the best shinobi that Kusagakure has created, he is cunning and terribly shrewd. He will drive the conversation to places that would be meant to corner you, and he will push you until you'll submit to his demands." Sarutobi stated. "Because of this I can only see him wanting something of equal exchange for the young girl."_

 _"You don't mean that he would demand someone from one of the clans just for her do you?" Kakashi asked for clarification, to which Sarutobi gave a sad nod._

 _"Yes, it would be well in his character to make such a demand in this case, which is why I will give you something that will ensure that he will follow the exchange that was sent prior ahead of the team's formation." Sarutobi explained to Kakashi as he opened up one of his bottom drawer and pulled out a medium sized box before placing it onto his desk._

 _"Lord Hokage, what exactly are you giving me?" Kakashi asked as his concern began to grow as the Third Hokage's face began to darken as he unlatched the box and began to open it as to reveal the contents within to Kakashi._

* * *

Pulling out a clothed covered object from his pouch Kakashi began to remove the cloth off to reveal two scrolls of differing colored frames, bindings and seals. Kakashi made his way over towards the desk of the Kusakage, whom was confused as to what Kakashi was bringing before him with such a confident, yet slightly remorseful presence.

"Just to let you know," Kakashi began as he stopped in front of the Kusakage. "This could have been avoided." With that Kakashi placed the two scrolls next to each other with the seals facing the Kusakage for him to see them and the terror that enshrouded them.

The Kusakage's heart nearly skipped a beat as he looked down at the two scrolls laying before him on his desk. Two law confining documents that bared a seal of a different Kage. The one on his left was a scroll with black bindings with a red frame and the Hokage's seal present on it. The other also had black bindings but it differed in that it had a dark green frame with the seal of the Kazekage on it.

The man was not looking at the signature seals however, but the kanji imprinted below the two of them. Both of them carried a deathly aura about them that made his stomach sick as fear began to take grip over him. The mark of damnation was upon both of them, the very same mark that above all things meant absolute death, the kanji for Oni, the declaration of war.

"Lord Kusakage, it saddens us that we weren't able to make a deal work, but we must go now for we have to get ready now," Kakashi began as he motioned for Tenzo that they were going to be leaving. "don't worry we'll be back soon though and maybe then when facing two large shinobi forces you will consider making a deal with us."

Kakashi began to make his way out with Tenzo but was stopped by the Kusakage who yelled out to them. "Wait! Please take these back with you!" He cried out. "I cannot accept these, if I do it will mean certain death for my village and the end of our nation!"

Kakashi just turned and glared at the man who was slowly but rapidly beginning to break down before him and Tenzo. "It's as you said Lord Kusakage, no more games from here on out its all or nothing." Kakashi replied causing the man to falter and leap out of his seat and run around the desk to grab both Kakashi and Tenzo as to stop them from leaving.

"NO YOU MUSN'T LEAVE!" He yelled out in terror. "If you leave then war is declared and I will be forced to accept both declarations!" The man yelled. He was breaking and Kakashi and Tenzo watched as the man held onto both of their wrists with all his might so that they couldn't leave his office.

"Lord Kusakage, you are aware of the dangers you are placing yourself in by holding both messengers in your village correct?" Kakashi asked with a dark tone. "Because you do know that if we do not leave regardless of the declarations being accepted or not war will still happen." The Kusakage immediately looked at his hands and nearly shrieked in fear as he quickly released the two of his grip before falling to the floor.

Kakashi and Tenzo were now making their way over to the door, they were almost to it when the Kusakage yelled out to them once more. "WAIT! I accept the prior exchange for the girl! There is no need for war!" The Kusakage cried out causing both of them to stop in their place and turn to look at the broken man in front of them. "I accept the exchange of an increase in trade of up to fifteen percent, the joint-economic financial plan that would increase Kusagakure economy by fifteen percent, and new jutsu being delivered quarterly for the next three years."

Kakashi waved Tenzo to go ahead and go to inform the others that they were finished here, while he stayed and walked over to the now broken Kusakage. "Lord Kusakage, you are an amazing politician, certainly one of the best Kusagakure has created in the past decades. Please get up, it is unbecoming of a Kage to be one the floor facing a foreign shinobi in his own hold." Kakashi stated as he pulled the Kusakage up onto his feet and back into his chair around his desk.

Even though the man was broken now Kakashi still knew that the man was still prideful and ending on such a note would have ruined him, something the Third Hokage knew about prior to sending a team to retrieve Karin. "You help me up even after I practically gave you an ultimatum and demanded outrageous claims from you in exchange for the girl?" The Kusakage questioned as he didn't believe the past few seconds even happened.

"Politics is an evil game Lord Kusakage, you should know that better than anyone else. You were made to believe that you had all the cards in place, Lord Third was right to create this plan, because now you have no choice but to listen to what I say, and that shouldn't have had to happen." Kakashi explained. "Here you are a leader of a fine shinobi village breaking down before a shinobi of another land and being played around like a instrument, Lord Kusakage you must understand the situation better than I considering that Lord Third was hoping that by merely mentioning the binders that you would be reminded of the importance of this exchange. I might not know everything that happens in an administration but my former sensei was Hokage and I know first hand the kind of pressure running a village can have."

Kakashi let those words sit in the Kusakage's head for a few seconds before going back around the desk to stand in his previous spot in front of the Kusakage. The man, now trying to repair himself, sat in his chair thinking hard at what Kakashi had said and shame became evident on the Kusakage's face. "I remember the time when my family was attacked by Iwa shinobi, they had gotten a lead that we had assisted a group of Konoha shinobi by giving them shelter and food. They rounded us up along with other families that had done similar things and took us to an open field where they were going to execute us." The Kusakage took a pause as Kakashi could only guess that not everything that he and Tenzo were told in the beginning was entirely true.

"All of the men were gathered up and were the first to be murdered by them, they wanted to torture us with this execution, which was why they took away our pillars of strength that protected us. Then they gathered all of the women, and they did horrible things to them before killing them though as they took time to relish in their vices, many were killed in the process. Finally it came down to the children who were now orphaned and scarred for life at the images before them. One by one they began to kill us off before only a few us remained. They were initially going to let us go as a warning but they were growing tired of doing that, and so they decided to kill us all off. It was in that moment I knew that I was going to die, that I was going to tortured, and killed for the enjoyment of monsters." Tears were evident coming down the Kusakage's face as Kakashi had a hard time watching the man explain his past to him, to him it was torture.

"The funny thing is though was that fate was only kind to us few that had made it up to that point as Konoha shinobi stormed the field and stopped the Iwa shinobi from killing the rest of us off. The fighting was quick and merciless with none of the Iwa shinobi standing and only us survivors and the group of Konoha shinobi left alive in that bloody field. Many of the Konoha shinobi recognized us survivors and soon realized why we were targeted and they helped, treated our wounds while also taking care of our dead friends and relatives by burying them in marked graves. Out of all the shinobi that were there however, only two stuck out." The Kusakage stated as Kakashi got drawn in for some reason. "One of them was a jonin with blond spiky hair and blue eyes, and the other was a young chunin that had gravity defying white hair and a stoic expression. Both of them found me and assisted me, helped me by carrying me to one of the secured towns being protected by garrisoned Konoha forces and saw to it that I was given immediate medical attention. It was because of them that I'm here today, and now I have besmirched their kindness with my own selfish desires."

"As true as your statement is, you were looking after the only family that you had, your village, so in a sense you are not entirely faulted." Kakashi expressed. "Besides I believe one of them said that you should always keep your head up and keep looking forward and never forget the love that your family had for you." The Kusakage remained quiet as Kakashi removed the two scrolls from the Kusakage's desk and placed them back into his pouch.

"You may take her, there will be no need for the deal." The Kusakage stated getting Kakashi's attention once more. "As leader of Kusagakure I am responsible for the safety and wellbeing of my people, today I am reminded of the dangers that will present themselves. In accordance with my actions I have caused enough problems for my village and nearly endangered it with war, as a leader I have failed and as to make amends I will just let you have Karin for you to take back to your village."

Kakashi was silent as he bowed in acknowledgment and made his way out of the Kusakage's office, but before he was entirely out the Kusakage made sure that he heard his one and final request. "The next time you visit your sensei, tell him I said thank you and that I will learn to be a great person just as his student was." The Kusakage asked before turning around in his chair to look out at his village allowing Kakashi to leave, although this time with a sense of renewal on both parts.

* * *

The village bristled as the seasonal winds blew through carrying the scents of spring through the air. With it came the warmth of the sun that bathed the world in its luminous gaze filling the world with life. It was due to these natural occurrences that village was alive and prospering with a well functioning economy and a strong military the village was able to thrive an culture was allowed to develop and grow.

It has been only a few days since Naruto's chakra had emerged and yet he was starting to make excellent progress. Every afternoon Fukasaku would be summoned and help in assisting in Naruto's development. The first major concern that both the old toad and the sannin had was that do to Naruto's unique chakra composition that chakra control would be impossible with senjutsu, however, that was starting to not be the case.

Naruto had begun to learn how to control his chakra more effectively as was evident when he managed to run up a tree and making it all the way to the top before loosing traction resulting in him tumbling down and being caught by the old toad. It was a sign that their efforts were paying off, and Naruto overall was improving considerably. In the academy he was now on equal par with many of clan heirs and has even closed the gap between himself and Sasuke.

This however was not entirely unforeseen as prior to not having chakra Naruto had already learned the course material from Jiraiya and Tsunade which elevated him into the higher level of education as evident with his test scores, and since he never had access to chakra his taijutsu was all he had to defend himself with so it was refined thanks to Jiraiya, but since chakra never flowed about his body he couldn't muster up the strength to compete with any of the clan heirs.

His ninjutsu skills were still low and his genjutsu skills hardly existed, however, considering his rapid development since his chakra manifested and under the guidance of proper instructors Naruto was starting to become a prodigy in his own right. To Naruto, he was just glad that he finally had chakra to call his own. Currently Naruto was finishing up the last bit of training for the day with Fukasaku before the old toad would have to leave for dinner.

"So what is it like on Mt. Myōboku?" Naruto asked the toad as he continued to lifting the object that was in his hands.

"Ah, a paradise for us Toads, where lily pads are numerous and delectable delicacies are practically flying about through the air." Fukasaku explained although he wouldn't know it but he had just given Naruto the wrong idea as Naruto envisioned toads on lily pads watching ramen fly through out the air. "Perhaps one day when you've mastered your chakra and become a fine shinobi I'll take you there to train you in the same arts as that fool of a pervert that is your godfather."

"Wait your saying that I could one day become a sage just like Ero-Sannin?!" Naruto asked with a hint of glee in his eyes. This got the old toad chuckling as he hadn't seen such admiration since Jiraiya first stumbled onto Mt. Myōboku long ago.

"Technically speaking yes, however, you have great potential Naruto for your chakra is a storm that can only be rivaled by your determination. You could become a sage of Mt. Myōboku if you wanted but opportunities will open up in the future that might be more promising for you, so keep that in mind." Fukasaku explained as he received a puzzling look in response to which the old toad merely shrugged off and made a comment about youth and eventual understanding. "I think that this will be a good stopping point for you Naruto, we can carry on tomorrow where we left off, so you can put it down now."

Naruto did as the old toad said and put down a stone statue of a toad that was brought over from Mt. Myōboku by Fukasaku. It wasn't quite as a large as the other ones he found around but it was twice Naruto's height and weighed in close to a ton. "Your chakra gives you strength, that fierce storm inside of you will require much more to break it, but the fact that you've managed to lift that statue up and down repeatedly for close to ten minutes is a large step to mastering your chakra." Fukasaku acknowledged allowing Naruto to feel proud of his success. "Due to your rapid advancement we will double the amount of training tomorrow and we will push for an half an hour tomorrow."

That made Naruto suddenly regret putting in the extra effort on the side as he began to reflect on much that had happened this past week alone. His thoughts drifted back and forth between the changes that he was facing as he is now being forced to stay at he compound again under Tsunade's watch. Although she couldn't get time off of the Hospital to supervise Naruto's training with Fukasaku so instead she managed to let Shizune get off earlier than before so that she could be there when she could not.

Naruto looked over across the large yard of the main compound and saw Shizune and Tonton waiting on the sidelines. Shizune was currently catching up on the news by reading the Konoha Digest while Tonton was resting on the pillow next to her. "Naruto, is something bothering you?" Fukasaku asked regaining Naruto's attention. "You seem to have spaced out there for a minute."

"Oh, yeah it was nothing I was just thinking about something was all." Naruto answered with his usual happy-go-lucky grin, though Fukasaku could see through the mask quite easily.

"Come now boy, you honestly expect me to fall for that, need I remind you that I was the one that taught Jiraiya practically everything he currently knows?" Fukasaku pressed as Naruto thought on what he said and a couple thoughts came to mind that made him give the toad a skeptical look. "What?"

"Ero-Toad..." Naruto stated causing Fukasaku to gawk before jumping up and whack him across the head. "Ouch what was that for?!"

"Listen carefully Naruto, I'm going to get something straight with you before this becomes a thing. I didn't teach Jiraiya until after he was like that, in fact he had the audacity to ask if the chameleon summons' senjutsu could help him camouflage himself in order to enter hot springs!" Fukasaku retorted. "If anyone is to blame it should be that man sitting in the oval office, because he was Jiraiya's first instructor and as such the one whom imprinted the most into what he's become today!"

Naruto, for his part, thought about something in his head that came to mind after hearing what Fukasaku said. He remembered a time when he was with Jiraiya and he was handing a book to Sarutobi, the Third Hokage who was flabbergasted that he would do such an exchange in front of him when he was so young... A look of disgust and shame spread itself across Naruto's face as he quickly realized what it was that he had experienced long ago and just how far the image he held of the Third Hokage had fallen because of it.

"So many perverts are living in this village it's almost as though this is a hub for them or something." Naruto remarked under his breath although Fukasaku heard clearly and chuckled.

"That may be true, however, this village is full of other types of people, many that resent those like your godfather and other that could care less. A village consists of many different people with varying views and opinions so make sure you remember that if you still want to be Hokage one day." Fukasaku stated and getting a understanding nod from Naruto in response acknowledging the usefulness of it. "Now I believe that will be it for today, I can't keep Ma waiting forever now. Take care Naruto-boy, I will see you again tomorrow."

With that Fukasaku disappeared in a cloud of smoke from his reverse summon back to Mt. Myōboku. Naruto remained in his spot though for a few moments though as he reflected on his progress and the words that Fukasaku gave him before leaving. Naruto let out a tiring sigh of relief as he stretched a little gaining Shizune's attention as she had looked to see the puff of smoke from Fukasaku's reverse summon.

"Are you done for the day Naruto?" Shizune asked getting Naruto's attention.

"Oh, yeah the old geezer toad just left, although his training just keeps getting harder." Naruto moaned as his body was still burning from the exercises he did today. "I have managed to get further into channeling my chakra but during that last exercise my chest was burning and I felt like I was going to throw up at the end." Shizune not one to take risks sat the paper down on one of the arms of the chair she was sitting in and got up to make her way over towards Naruto.

As she began making her way over towards Naruto, Naruto began to feel odd. His vision was slowly beginning to blur and the burning sensation in his chest was returning. Within a few moments though his body seemed to lock up as he stumbled over just barely retaining consciousness, this alarmed Shizune as she quickly, along with Tonton, raced over to the prone figure of Naruto.

"Naruto!" Shizune yelled as she quickly began to see if he was still conscious and much to her nerves she was thankful to see that he was still aware and responsive. "Hang on I'm going to examine you real quick." She quickly began to check him over and found the anomaly quickly and shock was evident on her face before masking it and quickly began treating Naruto before turning to Tonton. "Tonton, quickly fetch Tsunade, it's an emergency.

Not long following that Naruto slowly fell into unconsciousness becoming unaware of everything around him. Off and on he would slip in and out of consciousness but all together it seemed that time passed each time he regained and lost consciousness. Before long he remained unconscious as he drifted into sleep. Several hours had gone by and Naruto was none the wiser about what had transpired throughout that time, only knowing the emptiness he was feeling and the urge to sleep.

Outside though Naruto was unaware that he was currently being placed in a bed in the compound by Shizune while still being checked over by Tsunade. They were in Naruto's room which was dimly lit so to not disturb Naruto, especially after the whole ordeal that he was experiencing. Leaning against the frame of the open window he was sitting in, Jiraiya watched from afar while Tsunade and Shizune treated Naruto.

Jiraiya had in his hands the papers that they got from their hospital trip prior that evening, which he had been looking over before placing them into his coat pocket. "It seems that he was lucky this time." Tsunade commented before removing her hand from Naruto's chest. The illuminating green hue of her healing jutsu dimmed out of existence as her hand parted from Naruto's body. "I fear that these attacks might become more frequent Jiraiya, this was the third one since he began training."

"A terrible side effect of that chakra no doubt, it would have been different if his chakra coils developed in accordance to support that power within him as he grew, however, that isn't the case here." Jiraiya stated as he watched Naruto being cared for by both Tsunade and Shizune. Tonton was right next to Naruto the whole time oinking softly hoping to try and sooth him of any pain that he might feel with her soft sounds.

"His chakra is as heavy as a jinchuriki's and what's worse is that it can damage his nerve endings of his nervous system, we managed to repair most of them, but a couple of them will need to be healed over time in order for them to return back to normal." Tsunade mentioned as she placed her hand back onto Naruto's chest in comforting manner as she watched his haggard breathing slowly return back to normal. "He nearly had a stroke today Jiraiya, tomorrow he could have a heart attack. We need to lessen his amount of training otherwise he could become fully paralyzed at the very least."

"I know Tsunade, but he is so determined to get stronger now that he has his chakra after so long, now we might be forced into limiting him in what he can and cannot do. He already doesn't like being back in the compound. " Jiraiya replied remorsefully. "He wants to pass his own parents and become something that he can feel proud of..."

"Please Jiraiya, inform Lord Fukasaku about this, he cannot proceed into these severe training regiments without knowing about Naruto's condition, it was foolish of us to not inform him when happened the very first time." Tsunade stated while never moving her gaze from Naruto.

"I guess we don't have any choice now, and I think that it would be best to also inform sensei. If we want Naruto to get stronger both will need to know the hazards he will be facing." Jiraiya admitted as he exited out of the window and began to walk away from the room.

"Lady Tsunade, should I inform the Academy that Naruto will not be able to attend tomorrow just to make sure that he gets the extra rest?" Shizune asked as Tsunade let out a soft sigh before nodding her head.

"Naruto will more than likely not wake until tomorrow afternoon, until then we need to make sure that the academy understands this." Tsunade stated before getting up along with Shizune. "Shizune I'll need you to stay with him tomorrow and ensure that he is comfortable, while I try and look into ways that could possible help prevent this from happening as frequently."

Getting a nod of acknowledgement Tsunade began exiting the room before turning back around to look back at the sleeping form of Naruto. Next to his prone form was Tonton, whom was keen on staying by his side throughout the night. Looking over at the little pig Tsunade formed a sad smile as she watched the scene. "And you, you make sure you watch over Naruto, okay." Tsunade stated to pig, who turned in snorted in understanding before turning her attention back to Naruto.

The two women made their way out of Naruto's room and separated as they went to their own respective rooms within the compound. Before long any remaining lights within the compound were turned off leaving it shrouded in darkness.

* * *

Outside the main compound Jiraiya was making his way towards the Hokage's office when he stopped to make sure that the two women had gone to sleep. After waiting for a couple minutes Jiraiya watched as the last bit of light was extinguished allowing for him to do what he needed to get done. "You can come out, I know that your there, _Ghost_." Jiraiya implied as he waited for seemingly somebody to appear.

The wait was not long however, as a familiar sound filled the nearby area as a spectral figure emerged cloaked in black. The figure was rather tall but that was all that could be seen at first glance. The clothing the figure wore prevented any indication of whom this person was, even their face was covered by a single solid black mask with two eye holes for the individual to see out of, though no one could see inside of them.

The figure remained where it stood, not moving in the slightest as it stared directly at Jiraiya, who was unfazed by the seemingly dead gaze directed at him. Jiraiya for his part was rather serious, but not seemingly on the defensive nor the offensive. For him Jiraiya was standing there waiting for a reply from the being, but not to his surprise he didn't receive one.

"Silent as ever Ghost, you know for someone whose been watching over Naruto his entire life your an oddity considering you hardly speak." Jiraiya stated although the figure didn't change in the slightest causing Jiraiya to sigh in annoyance before attempting to strike a conversation from the reserved individual. "Look I'd like to thank you for appearing again and transporting Naruto to the hospital rather quickly, it was thanks to you that everyone there was able to prevent a stroke or worse from occurring."

The figure continued to remain prone to which caused Jiraiya to visibly twitch in annoyance. "You know it's rude to not respond to somebody who it trying to thank you for saving another's life." Jiraiya retorted.

"Funny coming from the guy whose always trying to peep on women while their bathing at the hot springs." Ghost replied back causing Jiraiya to jump is surprise. "Come now Jiraiya, did you really think that I couldn't talk?"

"Well considering past encounters I'd say my response is justified." Jiraiya answered as he watched Ghost disappear before his eyes. Turing at the new source of chakra next to him Jiraiya quickly turned to see Ghost balancing himself on top of a lamp post that stood near the gate squatting and looking down at Jiraiya. "Also you need to quit doing that it's rather creepy."

"On the contrary, what I do is intended so that other individuals are unaware of my presence while I follow and keep a close eye on Naruto." Ghost replied.

"Yeah well he's currently resting and so that means you don't have to keep that up all the time." Jiraiya remarked only to get a slight chuckle from the obvious other male that was looking down at him. "Look, I'm going to be leaving the compound to go speak with sensei, I don't want to comeback and hear that Naruto was abducted under your watch, you hear me."

The only response Jiraiya got was a sudden coldness that filled the air as though death itself was nearby. "Do not worry Jiraiya, Danzo has failed many times prior to today in trying to get his hands on Naruto," Ghost began as Jiraiya noticed that Ghost was pulling something out from underneath his cloak. "and yet no one has ever set foot onto these grounds." Ghost then tossed a round object over towards Jiraiya, whom caught it and was quick to identify it.

The object in his hands was a plain white mask with the kanji for "root" on it. Jiraiya also noticed the blood stain that was across the mask, and yet upon examining the grounds around the compound there wasn't a sign of a battle present that Jiraiya could find. "I see that your still quite skilled, a shame that I still don't know your name, only the name you took on when you began your solemn watch." Jiraiya mentioned as he pocketed the mask into coat for later.

He began to continue on his path to the Hokage Tower as he headed to the gate to which Ghost was waiting at still perched on top of the same lamp post. He continued forward until he was in whispering range near "Ghost" when he stopped for a brief second. "Make sure that no one gets close enough to him until he's able to defend himself properly, I don't trust Danzo, not since the failed Uchiha massacre." Jiraiya whispered to Ghost, whom neither responded nor showed any signs of acknowledgement. " Also we can't have Naruto getting another "episode" when he eventually becomes a shinobi, hopefully though he can get past this, but if not..."

Ghost didn't respond as he knew what Jiraiya was intending to say. Jiraiya continued his way over to the Hokage Tower as he exited through the Senju gates not looking back to see Ghost disappear into thin air. 'This is important I just hope he knows that.' Jiraiya thought before jumping into the air and landing on a nearby roof in order for him to get to the tower quicker by jumping across the building tops instead of through the streets.

At the same time a group was just returning from a mission and was making its way towards the Hokage Tower as well. Their intentions were different than Jiraiya's, however, the importance was just the same as the news he carried would be as necessary for the Third Hokage. This group was escorting a very important person who was about to start her new life in Konoha and was unaware of the future that she would have here and the difference it would be when compared to her stay in Kusagakure.

Two different lives effected by the events of their past converge on each other unaware of the plan that was in store for them. As the heavens gleamed and the earth watched onward the stars dance around these two lost souls to guide them in the dark. With new challenges ahead one could only guess the outcome these two would reach.

.

.

.

 **End**

* * *

 **Ah, the political infrastructure that was being developed with this chapter. Believe it or not I debated on making a messenger system with kanji, though to be frank, I didn't consider doing anything political at first. Considering the response to it though and many of you asking for more I decided that I'll start doing more of it. Though I'll make easy to understand.**

 **The following is a section I left to better explain some of the content in this chapter.**

 **1.) I decided to create a system of kanji in accordance to messages carried out between villages last chapter but that was briefly shown and I wanted to expand the whole diplomatic aspect of it, however, I'm not sure if it seems to have taken over this chapter, let me know please so that I can learn from this please.**

 **2.) Kakashi helping up the Kusakage, it should come to no surprise that I would do this with Kakashi, because even though he has a tendency to do things differently he is still his Sensei's student and as such I believe that he wouldn't like to watch a village leader be reduced to nothing in front of his eyes when he could have envisioned Minato doing that in the Kusakage's place, and so I decided to go with that idea and show that Kakashi really doesn't like this kind of diplomacy, forcing another leader into submitting into your own demands.**

 **3.) Naruto's development. I believe that his development could confuse some people if I don't properly explain what has become of him. Basically in a sense Naruto has gotten stronger but his body is still trying to adapt to his chakra which is infused with Ghidorah's power which could cause some serious harm to his body if he's not careful. In this case I have made Naruto into a glass cannon essentially for the time being as I still want him to grow and develop over time and give him something that would be a challenge for him to conquer first and foremost.**

 **4.) Why did I not focus on Naruto or more specifically his training, well it's because his training is only starting and there isn't much that he can do right now so, in a sense I felt that it would be a waste to show him training when that has been done several times over and over again. I'm not a hater of writing Naruto train but I just felt that the focus wasn't necessary this go around, there will be times when he trains so don't worry we'll get there :)**

 **5.) Why did I not give Karin a scene. The same reason why I changed the ending, I didn't quite like a lot that I originally had and so I had to change it up and came out with a product that I was satisfied with. The only thing that I would say that could be my one problem that I might go back an fix is creating better transitions in different places, aside from that I think its fine.**

 **Alright, four chapters done, four more to go. I got some time today, so let's see how quickly I can get this done. I'll catch everyone later, PEACE!**


	5. Understanding

**Chapter 5 is now up! Shin Aedra here and now currently scratching my head as I ponder something. Currently I'm stuck with a crossword puzzle. Oh, did you think I meant the story, my bad lol. In all seriousness though I have been stuck on a crossword puzzle for a couple days though I'll eventually figure it out.**

 **At this rate I should have all the chapters up by tonight, however, I do work tonight, so that'll hamper progress sadly T-T**

 **Disclaimer: The following is fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, though soon I will be adding to the list T-T, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Understanding

Light dimmed across the village as the morning sun continued its crescendo through the early morning. Its rays of warmth stretched across the entirety of the village little by little until the entire village knew of its presence. The light was shown bright enough as it breached into the dimly lit room where Naruto was residing. The new source of light did little to increase the lighting of the room do in part to the blinds and curtains that were covering the windows, however, it was affective in disrupting the sleep of one of the individuals in the room at that time.

Stirring from their sleep, red eyes were revealed to the lightly lit room. Shielding them with one of his arms Naruto let out a tired sigh as he waited for his eyes to adjust. He felt stiff, more than likely because of the way he slept, and tried sitting up only to feel slight discomfort from his chest and upper torso. "Well, I think I over did the training a bit yesterday," Naruto began as he sat himself up. "I must have passed out again, oh well I guess I'll have to be more cautious with my training."

Naruto began stretching his arms in front of himself as to relive his joints when he finally took notice of an unknown weight resting on his side. Looking over at the weight next to him Naruto noticed Tonton resting on one of her pillows underneath a spare blanket. Naruto smiled softly at the little pig as he could only guess that she wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"I must have worried you quite a bit huh Tonton?" Naruto smiled at the little pig. He carefully moved her pillow as to not disturb her so that he might be able to stretch his legs and get some breakfast. As he got up though Naruto felt his whole body was transitioning from a state of stiffness to normalcy. A weird feeling considering that it was already the next day.

'When did I pass out, because there is no way that I should be this stiff with perhaps fourteen hours' worth of sleep, and that's considering I passed out in the evening?' Naruto thought as he slowly managed to get up onto his feet. 'Hmm, maybe it has something to do with all of that training that I've been undergoing this past week or maybe...' Naruto's thoughts drifted off as the sound of his stomach grumbling and the sense of hunger quickly began to register in the blonde's mind.

"Questions for later I guess." Naruto stated as he began to make his way out of his room and towards the kitchen to get himself something to eat. Once out of the room he turned right and began making his way down a hallway for a few meters before turning into another hallway. Within a couple of moments after turning onto the new hallway Naruto entered a room on his left, which was the kitchen.

Heading over to the kitchen pantry, Naruto grabbed a box of cereal and made his way over towards the large cooler that contained the milk. Upon opening the door to walk into it Naruto's senses were quickly regained upon impact with the cold air coming out of the cooler. "Well I guess if I wasn't awake earlier I am now." Naruto commented. Walking into it, Naruto scanned the right side of the cooler, primarily a row of shelves lining the walls of the cooler with assorted dairy products lining the different shelves.

After a few seconds Naruto found the milk, which was stationed next to the whip cream, and grabbed it as he made his way out of the cooler. Once he exited the cooler he made sure the door was closed before heading over to one of the kitchen cabinets to grab a bowl for his cereal. Within a few minutes, Naruto had made and eaten his breakfast as well as put up the milk and cereal box.

Placing his bowl next to the sink Naruto stretched once more to try and alleviate some of the stress on his joints, however, it wasn't working. "This sucks! My legs are still way to stiff and I keep having to pop my back." Naruto sighed. Looking over at a clock on the wall in the kitchen Naruto saw that it was only twenty minutes after five, which meant that he still had plenty of time before he would have to be at the academy at eight for his first class. "Hm, well I could go for a walk for a little while before heading over there."

With that said Naruto returned to his room and quietly grabbed some spare clothes and went over to the hallway bathroom that was closest to his room to take a shower and change. As soon as he finished he went over to the laundry room and placed his dirty clothes in his hamper and made his way to the front door where he slipped on his sandals and made his way outside.

As that was happening, back in Naruto's room the blanket that was covering up a pillow was beginning to stir. The sudden lack of spare warmth began to cause the small pig sleeping under it to shift around before finally removing the blanket off of her. Tonton was not a morning pig, and one could easily tell, especially with a tired and annoyed look on her face.

Upon waking up Tonton stretched her body before letting out a soft yawn and looking over as the empty bed besides her. A couple moments passed by before her tired mind began to process the sudden change and alarm became apparent. Looking across the room Tonton noticed that Naruto was no where to be seen, which raised the state of alarm the little pig was experiencing.

Frantically, Tonton raced out of the bedroom with a seemingly smoky trail behind her as she raced around the compound to find Naruto. As this happened the sudden ruckus coming from the compound awoke Shizune, who was trying to sleep in a little bit considering that she was given the day off. The constant oinking and rambunctious noise was preventing that from happening however, forcing Shizune to get out of bed and investigate.

"I wonder what has Tonton in such an uppity this morning, perhaps Tsunade forgot to set out her food this morning..." Shizune yawned as she began making her way out of her room into the hallway outside. Before she could even set one foot out of the door however, Shizune was attacked by Tonton forcing her onto the ground with the little pig on top of her, whom was hell-bent on getting her attention. "What the heck is wrong with you this morning Tonton?!"

The little pig began oinking and grunting repeatedly as to try and communicate with her. Before long Tonton leapt off of her and started making her way towards Naruto's room before stopping and calling out to Shizune as though to follow. "What is it Tonton, you're hardly this excited in the morning." Shizune yawned before deciding to follow the pig.

Tonton turned around after seeing that Shizune was going to follow and began heading off towards Naruto's room. Shizune still in a morning stupor didn't even notice where she was being led. However, after walking for about a minute Shizune found herself standing outside of Naruto's room. "Huh, I already tended to him this morning Tonton, that's why he doesn't have a cloth over his head." She sighed before following the little pig into the room.

Upon entering her tired mind slowly began to register the confines within it. The room was still dimly lit by the small amount of light breaching through the blinds on the windows of the room making it a little hard trying to make everything out at first. After a few moments of slow processing Shizune began to realize the most crucial amount of detail that was missing in the room, Naruto.

"Where's Naruto!" Shizune practically screamed, which was loud enough to awaken a slumbering figure on the roof of the compound. "Tonton, start sniffing him out, we have to find him and make sure he's okay!" Upon receiving the command Tonton jumped forth and began sniffing the sheets on Naruto's bed to memorize the scent. Before long Tonton shot forth pass Shizune and into the hallway with Shizune following right behind the small pig, and now aware of the situation another was beginning their own search for the young blond as well.

* * *

Walking down the streets of Konoha, Naruto was trying to stretch his legs while taking a walk. Looking around Naruto noticed that he wasn't the only one up and early this morning as he saw quite a few people already up and about doing their daily routine. He took note of the shinobi swapping shifts guarding the gates as well as standard patrol. To everyone in the village it was a routine aspect as they knew full well why the patrol was their to begin with.

"Hmm, those don't look like the same guys that usually patrol the village..." Naruto noted as he kept on walking around the village. "They must be shorthanded or something." It really wasn't any of his business, which was why he continued onward towards the center of the village. Unknown to him was the sudden shadow following him wherever he went.

Walking for another ten minutes Naruto found himself in front of his favorite ramen stand, Ichiraku's Ramen, owned by none other than Mr. Ichiraku himself, and operated by both himself and his daughter Ayame. Naruto, much to his own stomach's argument, would like nothing else but to go in and grab a bowl to eat, but he knew that they the stand wasn't open yet and decided that after the academy that he would go there first thing to catch up with the two.

Continuing on Naruto began getting lost in thought as he began to reflect on his progression over the past week, including his last conversation that he had with Ghidorah. Already Naruto had noticed that any attempt at confronting or conversing with the massive dragon was seemingly impossible at the moment. Whether that was due to Ghidorah not wishing to speak to him or something else entirely was already beyond Naruto's own knowledge.

Though he didn't have anything really to spark a conversation over considering the last time Ghidorah spoke to him it was only a warning about him having to watch what he did from now on due to the properties of his chakra. Another thing that was supplementing itself within Naruto's mind was that in order to meet with the dragon again he needed to become stronger and considering his current progress, Naruto had to admit that even though he was strong he knew that was weak. 'Having such powerful chakra that allows for me to do such awesome things, like lifting those big stones is awesome, but there is a cost to it.' Naruto thought as he held up his hand and remembered the numbing feeling that was left after lifting the first boulder earlier this week. 'On the plus side, I have strength to back me up if I'm ever in a pinch now.'

Considering the amount of effort going into his training Naruto was hoping that a solution for his chakra's harmful effects would have been discovered by now, but that was due to him wanting access to learning more about the power that Ghidorah had. 'His own power that's infused into my chakra alone is powerful, I can only imagine the types of techniques that he could teach me!' Naruto chuckled to himself as his curiosity was starting to peak ever more. 'He said he could destroy planets, if that's so I want to be that strong! Then there would be no way anyone could beat me allowing me to protect the village and become a Hokage unlike the previous ones!'

As Naruto continued his walk his thoughts were disrupted by the sudden sound of a snicker. Naruto stopped in place as a scowl set itself on his face. Looking over his shoulder ever slightly he noticed the "shadow" that had been seemingly following him this entire time. Deciding to continue forward Naruto made a turn around the corner forcing the individual following him to dash forward in order to keep up.

However, as they looked around the corner to see if Naruto was still there they were surprised to see that he had seemingly disappeared seemingly out of thin air. The individual silently cursing themselves for not keeping up with their target, their thoughts were cut short upon registering the pain from a blow to their head. Quickly reaching up to rub the spot of contact, they turned around only to see Naruto standing behind them.

"You idiot did you think I wouldn't notice you following me?!" Naruto yelled down onto the person. After doing so Naruto quickly realized the individual was two-thirds his height. Upon closer analysis, he also noticed that the person before him was wearing a scarf that was much larger in comparison to what his body should have been supporting. The person that had been following him seemed to be some random kid, the likes that he had never met before.

"So, you did notice me! The rumors of your prowess weren't all lies after all!" The kid stated with joy taking Naruto a little off guard that rumors were already starting to bring forth weirdoes.

'Huh, it's barely been a week, and yet I'm already being sought out...It would have been cooler if it wasn't a kid.' Naruto thought to himself as he watched the little kid finish rubbing his head and shifted in place as excitement began to show in the faint twinkle of his eyes.

"Teach me your skills by making me your disciple!" The kid asked catching Naruto off-guard. "You've got to teach me how to become stronger!" Looking down at the kid Naruto didn't know what to make of this scene before him, sure he may have improved a lot recently in terms of results at the academy, more so than what many considered in a week, but he still needed to improve his control over his chakra and taking on a student seemed like the last thing on his mind to do.

"Real quick question first," Naruto began getting the attention of the small kid before him. "why do you want me to teach you when there are people out there like Sasuke Uchiha?"

"That's just it, I don't want to be taught by someone like him, they won't know how to help me improve since they don't understand me." The child explained causing Naruto to raise a brow. "Your just like me, your dad was the Fourth Hokage and my grandfather is the Third Hokage." This got Naruto starring wide eyed as he didn't even realize who was standing before him.

'I thought he looked familiar!' Naruto thought to himself as he took in the words the kid was speaking.

"My name is Konohamaru, my grandfather named me after the village, but even though everyone in the village knows that's what I am called no one ever calls me by that." Konohamaru introduced as he explained his reasoning to Naruto. "It's always just "Honorable Grandson", no one ever sees me for who I am just who I'm related too, and I hate it!"

Naruto didn't say anything, he just thought back to himself and sure enough he began to see himself in this Konohamaru kid before him. 'Now it makes since, that's why he's come to me for help instead of somebody else. He wanted it to be somebody that he could rely on.' Naruto reflected.

Konohamaru looked on at Naruto waiting for any kind of response from Naruto, the person in question however, hadn't changed much since his explanation began. Naruto stared downwards at Konohamaru with analytical eyes that didn't betray his thoughts leaving Konohamaru only speculating on what it was that Naruto would do next.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto relaxed his posture as he crossed his arms and gave Konohamaru a slightly annoyed look. " Look Konohamaru, before I say anything I want you to tell me your goals." Naruto stated leading to Konohamaru to give a confused facial response. "Tell what you plan on doing when you become a shinobi, basically what is your dream."

"My dream is to become Hokage, that way everyone will see me for who I really am, and that will be real soon!" Konohamaru declared, not faulting in declaration towards Naruto, whom with his part was silent for the first few seconds.

"No way, who would ever respect a Hokage like you?" Naruto replied with a bland expression causing Konohamaru to falter.

"Huh, what do you mean?!" Konohamaru yelled back.

"The title is too big of a name for such a little guy like you," Naruto began getting a "WHAT?!" as a response from Konohamaru. "You idiot, it won't be easy to reach the title of Hokage! You don't get it just because you really want it! If you really want it then-"

"Then what?!" Konohamaru interjected stopping Naruto in the middle of his small speech.

"You'll have to get past me first!" Naruto finished with a devilish grin causing Konohamaru to falter in place. In the background a new figure had finally spotted the two together after searching for such a long time.

Up on the roof of a nearby building a man was seen looking down at the two below. "Ah, finally I found the honorable grandson, and with the son of the late Fourth of all people, interesting." The man stated.

He was an average height for a grown man, wearing dark clothing which consisted of a black shirt, pair of pants, a bandana held up by his headband, shinobi sandals, and sun glasses. The man was named Ebisu, and he was the private tutor for young Konohamaru, chosen to help guide him into becoming a confident and dutiful shinobi.

Previously this morning, he had lost sight of Konohamaru after waking the young child up for early practice in kunai and shuriken tossing. One moment he had only left him for a moment to set up the testing dummies and the small scamp managed to evade him. Ebisu had been worried sick trying to find all morning, but was glad that he was at least safe.

He began making his way towards the two, but was stopped upon an unsettling feeling filled the air around him. Ebisu hadn't noticed it before, but he quickly realized that he wasn't the only one watching the small exchange between the two children. Looking towards the source of the feeling on his left, Ghost was seen standing in place not moving a muscle with his gaze set onto the kids.

"Easy there, don't give away our position, wouldn't want to ruin their moment." Ghost expressed. The coldness of his voice sent chills up Ebisu's spine, he had heard that Naruto was watched at all times by a single shinobi, but he had never expected it to be someone like the one standing directly beside him.

"So, you're the one tasked with protecting young Naruto?" Ebisu asked as he attempted to "breaking the ice" since he figured they might be here until the two below them were finished.

"I wasn't tasked to do anything, I just do it because I want to do it." Ghost corrected with a swift coldness that caused Ebisu to sweat drop slightly in response as he didn't know how to speak with this person beside him.

"I see..." Ebisu whispered to himself as he looked back down. "so, how is it watching over Naruto?" Ghost moved around a little as he adjusted himself in a stance that would be more comfortable while watching over his charge.

"Difficult...you?" Ghost asked back to which Ebisu gave the same answer leading the two to slowly converse until the exchange below was done.

Back on the ground Naruto and Konohamaru began to walk away into one of the side streets as to avoid any early morning traffic on the main roads. The two continued on talking, or rather Konohamaru demanding answers from Naruto, whom was busy smirking to himself before stopping in place.

"Look Konohamaru, as of right now I'm not looking for a disciple, however, if you comeback after I become a shinobi worthy of teaching then you can try again." Naruto stated to Konohamaru, who was now red in the face with embarrassment and anger.

"WHAT?! After all that you're not even going to accept me as a student?! Why?!" Konohamaru yelled aloud. "All I want is a name that everyone will respect, and I want it now! You of all people should know what its-" A swift blow to the head was enough to interrupt Konohamaru in the middle of his banter, while rubbing his head.

"You think wanting it is all it takes? Dream on!" Naruto berated as he now stood fully in front of Konohamaru abruptly over towering him. "You're talking about taking the position of Hokage, that's the greatest shinobi in the village, the one everyone respects!"

"My whole life I've been in the shadows of all the great people involved in my life, my parents, my godparents, and even my name! There has only been a handful of people that I've met that don't see me as a shadow!" Naruto continued. "Are you ready to take the commitment?"

"Commitment?" Konohamaru questioned as he wasn't following what Naruto was asking.

"Everybody, and I do mean everybody has the highest respect for the Hokage, so do you get it?" Naruto asked once more before turning away from Konohamaru. "There are no shortcuts!" Konohamaru was left speechless at the sudden realization that Naruto had exchanged him.

He thought back to what Naruto had stated earlier and was only now realizing what it was he meant. It angered him to think that something like the title of the Hokage was something that anyone could get, however... "I'm not going to be your disciple anymore!" Konohamaru cried out. "From this day onward we will be rivals competing for the title of Hokage!"

"Heh, it's your tough luck! I'm already one step ahead of you in terms that in a year I will be graduating from the academy and be on my way to becoming a powerful shinobi!" Naruto boasted causing Konohamaru to seethe in understanding at the situation between the two. "However, one day we might just fight for the title of Hokage, so you'd better look forward to that day Konohamaru, because on that day I plan on becoming Hokage."

With that said Naruto began walking his on his own away from Konohamaru, when a thought sprung itself into his mind. Turning back around towards Konohamaru Naruto dawned on an annoyed look. "How the heck did you know where I was?! Actually, why were you following me so early in the morning?!" Naruto demanded getting a sheepish look as a response.

"Actually, I've been trying to find you for a couple days now. Each time I went to look for you at your home a lady with black hair kept on saying that you were unavailable, and the one time I snuck into the compound to look for you I somehow just ended up back in front of the gates to the compound." Konohamaru explained.

"Why didn't you come ask me while I was on the way to or from the academy then?" Naruto asked.

"Because for the past two days you weren't at the academy, so I couldn't find you and ask you then." Konohamaru stated.

"What are you talking about I was at the academy yesterday, you could have asked me then." Naruto stated getting a confused look from Konohamaru.

"Well I waited before and after the academy and not once did I see you enter or exit from the academy at all." Konohamaru explained. "I even asked some of your classmates and they said that you hadn't been there for two days like I said."

Naruto began thinking back on his stiffness, slowly but surely the realization crept forth and Naruto fully understood what had happened after his initial collapse during his training. 'Son of a-' Naruto quickly began heading back to the compound without saying a word to Konohamaru.

"Hey, wait a minute where are you going?" Konohamaru asked aloud.

"To go find out if my suspicions are true." Naruto answered as he speed up his pace. Noticing that the two were now separating Ghost disappeared without a trace leaving only Ebisu standing in the same spot as before.

"You know what, I'm really starting to hate that guy." Ebisu commented before jumping down and begin his exchange with Konohamaru. "Alright honorable grandson, it's time to return to your studies."

"Ebisu!?" Konohamaru jump with a fright. "How did you find me?!"

"Please honorable grandson, I was handpicked to discipline that you may one day become a proper Hokage, as such I have the abilities to find you should you decide to slip away from my sight." Ebisu explained.

"Then why is it so easy to slip away from you without you noticing?" Konohamaru asked with a dead stare.

"I was busy taking care of the necessary procedures so that we could be shuriken practice when you decided to up and leave, I'm not a sensory type I'll have you know." Ebisu answered before grabbing Konohamaru leapt away back to the training area that they were in early this morning.

* * *

Hurrying his way back to the compound, Naruto running at decent rate, wanted to get some much-needed answers. 'Okay, so apparently, I must have been unconscious a lot longer than I originally thought, which is really annoying.' Naruto thought as he took a right down an alley way as to avoid some of the now early traffic. 'This is really annoying, because all I want to do is get stronger, but it's looking like I still can't do anything without something happening to me!'

Naruto dashed out of the alley across a semi crowed street, weaving through the people and into another alley that was directly across from the previous one. 'What's worse is that by going too far I'll end up passing out for a couple days if not worse, this sucks!' Naruto groaned while running around some discarded boxes and junk that usually find their way into these kinds of alleys.

Upon making a turn that would take him to another street Naruto found himself colliding with something. Whatever it was a whimper of pain came from it surprising Naruto as he held his head as the pain was still registering. Opening one of his eyes, the first and only thing that he could make out was the color red. 'That's weird, why am I only seeing red? Am I bleeding?!' Naruto first began to think as his vision began to clear and the ringing in ears subsided as he became fully self-aware of what he had just crashed into.

In front of him, laying on the ground, was a girl, around his age with red hair and wearing glasses that showed her red eyes. Rubbing her back as she looked up at Naruto with scornful eyes she was about to let him have it. "Watch where you're going!" She yelled at him as she began to pick herself up when she noticed Naruto's hand being offered to her.

"Sorry about that, I was in kind of a hurry and I didn't notice you when I turned the corner." Naruto apologized as he waited to see if she would take his hand, but found she didn't. She dusted herself off and made her way pass Naruto ignoring him. This of course not only bothered Naruto, but it also ticked him off as he was apologizing to her and she just brushed him off. "Hey! I was trying to apologize to you by offering to help you up!"

"Yeah?! Well I don't need your help!" She yelled back at him. Naruto being the stubborn fool that he was, was fully prepared to get the last word now that she was going to be like that.

"You know what! Fine, I'm not sorry for knocking you down then!" Naruto yelled back as he watched her turn the same corner that he had just turned himself before letting out a soft groan as he began making his way back to original destination, while the girl slowly made her way deeper into the alley where she was met with the sight of men in white masks appearing out of nowhere.

Surprising her, let out a slight scream before one of them apprehended her, causing her to try and escape his grasp. "Where do you think you're going? You're not supposed to be outside!" The one holding her scolded her as he continued to restrain her.

"Let me go!" She screamed at him, but he refused to budge. Preparing to leave with her finally caught the masked shinobi were oblivious to something moving in the shadows, but it became known once the one restraining her was struck in the head by a punch, causing him to flinch. The others sprang into action, but ceased upon recognizing who it was that was trying to stop them.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Naruto demanded as he moved in front of the girl creating a protective barrier between her and her attackers. They remained quiet for a few seconds as they had thought that Naruto was supposed to be recovering. "I asked you a question!"

"The girl that you are currently "protecting" from us is supposed to be seeing the Hokage right now, but she slipped out of her guardian's care forcing us to find her." One of them explained causing Naruto turned to look at the girl, who didn't seem too keen in going with the masked shinobi. "Now then, Naruto-sama, please allow us to take the girl to the Hokage and we'll take you back to the compound."

Turning back around to look at the group once more, but the group now felt something rather sinister. Naruto's eyes darkened to a bloody red and the air around them seem to drop in temperature as Naruto glared back at them. Glaring up at the Anbu that stood before him Naruto was preparing to do something crazy, much to the displeasure of Ghost, who was watching from the shadows.

The Anbu seeing that Naruto was standing his ground against them figured that the next course of action was necessary. Before Naruto could notice he was apprehended along with the girl by an Anbu agent each. Taken by complete surprise Naruto resisted against the one holding him, while said agent was seemingly given a run for his money. "Calm down already Naruto, we're not here to harm anyone." The agent explained to him, but Naruto didn't care to listen to them, instead a slight spark was visibly seen in the field of vision of the agent before he was seemingly shocked by some unknown source forcing him to release Naruto.

The others, confused as to what happened attempted to subdue Naruto but where met with the same results. Examining him closely a slight shimmer of electricity was visibly seen sparking off Naruto, who charged at the one holding the girl.

Attempting to kick Naruto away, the Anbu was instead surprised when he felt a sudden jolt of pain resonate throughout his body as Naruto suddenly appeared beside him with his fist embedded in his side. Along with the pain and shock from Naruto he released the girl unwillingly, and Naruto pulled her towards him before he pulled out a round object from his pocket.

"Close your eyes!" Naruto instructed as he threw the object onto the ground creating a pink cloud that shrouded him and her. The Anbu, being subjected to Naruto's tricks once more were about to pursue when they noticed that their eyes and throats were burning.

"What the hell?!" One of them cried out.

"Damn that Naruto! He tossed a cherry bomb coated in some kind of coughing agent!" Another yelled while Ghost couldn't help but shake his head and sigh as he left them to go and continue his watch over Naruto. Further away from the Anbu, Naruto was still dragging the girl along as they tried to escape from the agents.

They were still running when Naruto found that one of the agents had seemingly managed to catch up, but was surprised when that wasn't the case. Leaning against a wall reading a book, Naruto noticed that the individual was wearing a crow mask and quickly went to greet said individual, as well as seek their help.

"Itachi!" Naruto called out getting the attention said Anbu agent, who was kind of surprised to see Naruto.

"Naruto, aren't you supposed to be recovering or something?" Itachi asked as he looked over at Naruto with his mask still on slightly flinching upon recognizing the girl next to Naruto, whom was seemingly worried upon seeing him. "Uhm, Naruto, why do you have her with you?"

"Some guys with masks similar to Anbu masks were trying to kidnap her." Naruto explained causing Itachi to raise an unnoticeable brow. "They even came up with an excuse like "she is supposed to see the Hokage" and stuff!"

"Naruto I think that-" Before Itachi could finish his sentence the Anbu from before appeared, some still succumbing from the effects of the cherry bomb Naruto tossed earlier.

"There you are!" One coughed out, with a series of others following suite. "Now hand her over Naruto, where not trying to- Oh Captain!" All of the other Anbu quickly stood at attention upon noticing Itachi, who let out a small sigh before returning his book to his pouch.

"Alright, I see what happened now." Itachi sighed as he crouched down in front of Naruto as to get eyelevel with him. "Naruto, your friend there is supposed to be in her temporary stay with her newly appointed guardian right now, and she is supposed to meet with Lord Third." Naruto was confused, wondering why it was then that she was outside alone in the first place, but those thoughts were quickly erased upon the recognition of a loud yell.

"NARUTO!" Someone yelled causing him to flinch, as he turned along with a few others only to see him get tackled by Tonton. Oinking at him, as though she was in a fit, the pig marked the beginning of what was to come as loud footsteps were heard heading their way. Looking in the direction of the impending doom everyone quickly noticed Tsunade, who was furious, before looking back at Naruto as though trying to decide on what to do.

Ultimately, they settled on moving aside and taking the girl along with them, Naruto could only look up and see his death running towards him. Within seconds Tsunade had reached them and held Naruto up by his shirt as she began to scold him and fling him around while doing it like a ragdoll. Many of the Anbu visibly shook in freight at the ferociousness being displayed by the woman, and before long Shizune had appeared seemingly exhausted.

"What the hell makes you think that you can just walk out of the compound as you please with you just recovering?!" Tsunade scolded him, only to get some incoherent response due to all the shaking that Naruto was experiencing. "WHAT?!"

"I was on my way back." Naruto attempted to respond coherently. Tsunade wanted to hit him so badly but knew better and instead held him under her arm as she stormed off.

"Sorry for the sudden brashness!" Shizune apologized before catching up with her master. The others though could only sweat nervously at the whole scene that was displayed before them.

Itachi, shaking the event off, knelt to the girl's eyelevel. "You know that you shouldn't have left without saying something." Itachi explained, only for the girl to grumble, causing Itachi to chuckle at her antics as he remembered Sasuke doing something similar whenever he got into trouble. "Now then, let's get you over to the Hokage, after all today is your big day!"

With that both groups were now out of the area, with Naruto being dragged to the compound, and Itachi taking the girl to meet the Hokage.

* * *

Naruto, still sore from Tsunade's man handling was sitting in his usual spot in the academy as he watched the rest of the students pack into the room. A couple of them spared him a few glances here and there, but Naruto didn't care. 'Well, let's just get this day over with.' Naruto thought to himself as he closed his eyes. 'Also who the heck was that girl, I didn't recognize her, is she a civilians daughter?'

Once the rest of the class was packed in and seated Iruka walked in with Mizuki in tow. Mizuki took his normal seat, quickly sneaking a glare over at Naruto, but noticed that he wasn't paying any attention, however, the shadow in the corner did causing Mizuki's heart to skip a beat slightly before returning his gaze back to Iruka, who was standing in front of the desk.

"Alright class, before we start today's class I'd like to introduce you to a new classmate who will be joining us for the rest of our time here at the academy." Iruka announced as the class seemingly managed to bring its collective attention to the person walking in the classroom. A couple of guys seemed to smirk and whisper something to each other while the others held their opinions in check.

Naruto deciding to see who the new student was opened his eyes and nearly lost it as he saw the same girl from earlier this morning standing next to Iruka. "Please introduce yourself to the class." Iruka asked to which the girl did.

"Hello, my name is Karin Uzumaki, a pleasure to meet you." She greeted before a bunch of eyes bulged in hearing the name. Naruto for his part finally broke as he jumped up and screamed.

"What the hell! You're an Uzumaki and you didn't even say anything what the hell!" Naruto exclaimed causing the girl to jump in recognition of who it was yelling at her.

"Well you never asked the entire time you were dragging me around!" She retorted. "And why should that be of any concern of yours!" Iruka for his part, was unaware of what seemingly had already transpired between the two, could only guess that they had met previously under different circumstances and decided to properly greet them of sorts.

"Well Karin, that is Naruto, and he is also from the same clan as you, seeing as how his mother was an Uzumaki." Iruka explained getting a surprised look from Karin, as well as a couple others in the class who were oblivious to the fact that Naruto was a part of a clan.

Wheels slowly began moving as Naruto and Karin began to fully understand their relation. All at the same time eyes were on them both as they tried to make sense of everything that was happening.

.

.

.

 **End**

* * *

 **Well that takes care of that! This chapter was surprising easier to update, then again, I'm not fully updating it yet. This is chapter 5 and now I only have three more chapters left. I want to at least get to chapter seven by tonight, although work is quickly approaching.**

 **This chapter was a big issue for me to tackle. I have never written anything like this before, so it was a learning experience. I'm just grateful for all the feedback that I've gotten during this story's run.**

 **With five chapters down and three to go I ma keep on trucking! Take it easy everyone! PEACE!**


	6. A Promise

**Hello there everybody, this is Shin Aedra and this is chapter six of Vessel of the Golden Dragon. With six chapters now up, I feel better. Chapters seven and eight will be uploaded sometime tonight when I get home from work, after that I will be working towards publishing chapter nine.**

 **In this chapter however, it will be development mostly, with Naruto trying to get acquainted with Karin and so forth. This will be the final chapter with everyone in the academy and next chapter will immediately begin with or after the graduation depending on how this story will turn out. I tend to notice that a story tends to take its own path, and that it is the writer that follows it, jotting down everything that is transpiring the entirety of the journey.**

 **Disclaimer: The following is fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, though soon I will be adding to the list T-T, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 6: A Promise...

Once again Naruto found himself in an awkward situation. In his class, not only was he still warranted an outcast, but also now he had to deal with the fact that the only other person bearing his clan's name hasn't exactly been talkative with him since their first encounter. 'So, three weeks later and you still won't talk to me.' Naruto reflected as his red eyes drifted over to the red head located on the other side of the room adjacent to him, and just like him she was sitting alone with everyone not really wanting to sit near her. 'Hmm, seems like no matter the person, if you bare the Uzumaki name your bound for isolation…that sucks!'

Physically frowning Naruto redirected his attention back to Iruka in front of the class who was busy explaining something involving genjutsu or something. Whatever it was Naruto was already confident that he knew the material, as such he did what one other person in the class was doing at this very moment, he took a nap.

Time wasn't as courteous though, just as he was about to lay his head down the ringing of the bell signaled the end of class for the day. With a groan, Naruto hadn't noticed that the time had gone by and decided to pull his head up. With a sigh, he gotten up from his seat following all the others. The only other people in the classroom that weren't already making their way out the door was of course Iruka, Choji and Shikamaru.

Walking over to his fellow two classmates Naruto scratched the back of his head as he stopped in front of the two. "Hey Choji, waiting for Shikamaru to wake up again?" Naruto asked the Akamichi, who was steadily eating away at a bag of chips.

Looking up at Naruto, Choji finished chewing the chips he had just previously stuffed into his mouth before speaking. "Hey Naruto, and yeah, he's been asleep since I don't know, about when Iruka-sensei was going over today's history lecture." Choji estimated while taking another handful of chips and chowing on them.

"I see that," Naruto stated as he decided to take the empty seat on Shikamaru's left, propping his feet up as to get comfortable. "when do you think, he'll wake up?"

"Probably until someone wakes him up, of course that won't be me, I have better things to do than wake him up." Choji stated as he continued munching on his snacks. Unknowingly to him, he was grabbing only air whenever he would go to grab some chips.

"So, what do think will happen when he wakes up and sees that no one's here?" Naruto asked Choji who gave him a puzzled look in response. "Want to get something to eat basically?" With that Choji finally noticed that for the past few seconds that his hand had been trying to pry chips out of an empty bag.

"Sure, but wouldn't he get mad that we left him here without waking him up?" Choji asked before both him and Naruto took notice of Iruka walking over to them.

"No need to worry about him," Iruka reassured. "I'll take care of him, especially since he decided to fall asleep in my class again." Both Naruto and Choji exchanged a brief look before rising from their seats and making their way out of the class.

After exiting the classroom, the two didn't even make it a few feet away from the door before Iruka began yelling at the sleeping Shikamaru. Much of it seemed incoherent, but it was safe to say that the scorn was evident in Iruka's tone. "That happened much faster than the other day." Naruto remarked.

"Eh, I didn't even notice." Choji remarked as he rubbed his gut. The sound of a stomach growling was evident to the two causing them to chuckle slightly with a slight sweat showing itself, almost in response. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah I can tell." Naruto chuckled as they made their way to the exit. "Since I got to pick where we ate last time you get to pick where we go this time Choji." With that Naruto could have sworn that he saw a slight twinkle in Choji's eyes as a menacing grin took its place across Choji's face.

"Well then, if I get to pick," Choji began as Naruto noticed that his friend was starting to drool a bit. "BARBEQUE!" Naruto nodded at Choji's pick. He understood that where they were going was Choji's favorite restaurant, just like Naruto favored Ichiraku's. As they exited the building Naruto happened to notice that Karin was just making her way out of the Academy grounds and into the buzzling streets of Konoha. With a groan, Naruto was annoyed at the fact that she had refused to speak to him since they first met. "Give it up Naruto, it's been three weeks now, and considering she hasn't spoken to you yet is pretty obvious that she doesn't want to either."

"I don't get it, we're from the same clan, so why doesn't she want to talk?!" Naruto grumbled in annoyance as they kept going. "I've politely asked, waited for her to speak to me, left her a note here and there, but all she does is ignore me!" Wanting a source to vent out his frustration Naruto noticed that they were about to pass the wall, and in his blind rage he punched it.

There was no pain, however, the wall now had a small fist imprinted in it with a few cracks being evident. "I see that you're definitely getting physically stronger, but then again look who your guardians are." Choji pointed out. "You didn't even feel a thing, did you?"

"Well I do have a slight sensation in my hand, but I wouldn't call it pain." Naruto answered honestly as he shook his hand a bit trying to get the sensation to go away. "If anything, it just makes my hand feel weird."

"I kind of wish I could punch that strong, but then again I'm fine, as is." Choji admitted. "I'll be able to dent walls, and break them once I have my family's jutsu down pact."

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about the "Super Expansion Jutsu"." Naruto recalled as Choji adorned a smirk.

"Yep, I will eventually gain the ability to change the size of my body at will, but for right now I'm settled on just eating and hanging out with you guys." Choji stated as both him and Naruto stopped at the gate and turned around to see Shikamaru slowly making his way towards them still half asleep.

"What the hell guys, you left alone with Iruka-sensei, do you know how troublesome it is to recite the material of something gone over in class when you slept through most of it?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically getting a grin from Naruto and a shrug from Choji.

"Why should it be a problem for you? You already know the material don't you, lazy genius?" Naruto taunted as Shikamaru sighed in annoyance before stopping in front of them.

"I was asking a rhetorical question you ass, the least you could do is act like you recognize it." Shikamaru remarked as Naruto just grinned before joining the two. "So, where we are going today?"

"BARBEQUE!" Choji announced triumphantly. The other two sparred a look before exchanging grins at Choji's antics.

"Funny, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Naruto was leading us." Shikamaru joked, getting a "What" from Naruto in response. "Oh please, Naruto your always like that when we go to get Ramen."

"Yeah, but it's Choji's day to decide on where we go!" Naruto rebuked. "If it was me I wouldn't be that loud!" Shikamaru just shook his head.

"Naruto, you're the loudest when it comes to your days to pick where we eat." Shikamaru pointed out. "I've heard people saying "Oh, is it that time of the week already, my time has gone by so fast" whenever you're picking."

"Shikamaru is right you know," Choji added as he wiped the drool from his mouth. "my uncle always tells me that thanks to Naruto he's able to keep up with whenever he needs to go to the market and get more food for his place."

Naruto's face was becoming red due to the mixture of embarrassment and built up rage that was becoming occurrent. Although Shikamaru and Choji knew what they were doing they continued a little bit longer before Naruto roared to life causing the other two to just laugh at their friend's plight before making a run for the barbeque restaurant they were heading to.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Karin was making her way through the village attempting to make it to her new residence. She was still new though, but she was still unsure of her new situation as she made a turn onto another street. Occasionally, some people would give her weird looks, she presumed that it was because that she was still new to Konoha and that people didn't know what to make of her, but other thoughts began to gloss over her mind.

Before she knew it, Karin found herself going down an alley and walking into somebody again. "I'm sorry I was-" Before she could finish her sentence though she was quick to receive a slight hit in the head. Looking up she noticed that the person she had walked into had some dango in her other hand.

"I thought I told you to wait until I got to the academy where I would come and get you." The woman that stood before Karin scolded slightly. The woman had on a fitted mesh body suit that cover up to her neck and down to her thighs. A dark orange mini skirt with a dark blue belt, pale grey shin guards and a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam with a pocket on each side. "You don't know your way around the village yet, and until then I'm to look after you remember."

"Yes mam." Karin replied before noticing a slight irk appear on the woman's face.

"And my name is Anko, so call me by that instead of "mam", honestly it just makes me feel old." Anko stated to Karin, who nodded her head in understanding. "Good, then let's get going, as it is my job as your guardian I will make sure that you're not only safe, but also that your well informed about everything in the village and that you know your way around, as such today I'm going to show you the way over to the main market district from your home that way you know where to go, after that I'll show where the best dango in the village is made."

* * *

As the day went by, the time had now reached into the late afternoon. Naruto waved his two friends goodbye before heading off for a quick walk around the village before heading back to the compound for the night. He hadn't been able to just take a walk so casually before until today, this was due in part to the fact that he was under a new training regiment, but since his training was going to be less extreme until he was fully recovered he was open to more time.

Looking down at his right hand, Naruto opened and closed his palm still feeling a numbing sensation that made it hard to feel anything. 'How much longer is it going to take before I'm fully healed?!' Naruto groaned in annoyance inwardly. 'Three weeks later and I'm still unable to feel anything with my right hand!'

Walking further down the road Naruto looked up and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Thinking that he should wrap up his stroll, he decided to head up to his favorite spot in the village aside from Ichiraku's. Heading up to the Hokage monument, Naruto noticed that many of the lights in and around the village were being lit to ensure that everyone could see when traversing the streets of Konoha at night.

With time to spare Naruto arrived at the base of the Hokage monument. Taking a chance to looked up at it from the ground Naruto brought his view to the wall of rock that stood before him. Walking up to it Naruto looked at the rock face and with some thought attempted to place his foot on it. Once his foot was firmly placed onto the wall Naruto began to apply chakra, as he did he noticed that cracks were beginning to form where his foot was and quickly ceased what he was about to do.

"Well it looks like I still have a long way to go before I'm able to walk on walls." Naruto pointed out as brought his foot down and began heading for the stairs nearby that would take him to the top of the mountain, leaving a foot shaped indention in the place his foot was just seconds previously.

Scaling the stairs to the top of the mountain, Naruto began thinking over a lot of details of his chakra and Ghidorah, but there was another thought that was pressing his mind ever more potently. Karin had only been in the village for what he could only guess was three weeks for her, and yet during that time he was confused as to why she refused to acknowledge him. "What the heck is up with her?!" Naruto blurted out to no one. "We're from the same clan, and yet she doesn't even seem the least bit interested in even having a conversation with me!"

Grumbling to himself Naruto remarked over the fact that Karin was ignoring him some more before ranting over the fact that people were giving her weird looks, some of the guys in the class always seemed to smirk at her for some reason, which made Naruto's blood boil. No one had tried anything with her yet, however, Naruto wasn't going to let someone from his clan be tormented like he was.

"Just because we're from the same clan doesn't mean that they can go on and focus their remarks usually reserved for me be placed onto her!" Naruto seethed as he recalled that ever since the discovery of his chakra the usual taunts and remarks made at him ceased, and considering that there was somebody who was out casting herself from the rest of the class it was practically free game for any person to take if they wanted to demoralize or pester her.

Feeling frustrated once again Naruto stomped his foot onto the stair way and seemingly didn't even notice the violent shaking that followed. Gritting his teeth Naruto looked at the rock face that the stairs were built upon and punched it as to relieve whatever anger and frustration he had. The following result was a considerably large hole in the rock wall, one that Naruto ignored as he continued to scale the stairway. 'Not even halfway there and I'm already getting riled up!' Naruto fumed as he hurried his pace so that he could finally reach his destination quicker.

Unbeknown to Naruto, Ghidorah was fully aware of Naruto's growing frustration and found the whole situation rather amusing. **"So, he is getting all wound up because of this female?"** Ghidorah mockingly pointed out as he watched Naruto from within the recesses of his mind. **"It seems as though this monkey isn't even aware of his actions, interesting."** Ghidorah began to cackle as he took careful notice to ensure that he amplified Naruto's negative emotions further, an attempt to see how far Naruto was willing to let loose. **"Whether it was coincidence or not, I now have a trigger that could send the boy over board."**

Watching Naruto strike the wall again, although this time dragging his fist across it as he walked to go up the next flight of stairs. The rocks may have been strong, but Naruto was tearing into them with what seemed to be relative ease as his rage continued to increase.

Feeling a sudden tingling sensation Naruto noticed that occasionally there would be sparks coming from his hand that was used to tear into the rock face, although he didn't care. His mind was cluttered by unanswered questions and the feeling of resentment that he was all too familiar with due to most of his class, with the only few exceptions being Iruka, Shikamaru, and Choji.

Without even realizing it Naruto tore away his arm from the rocks and sent a bolt of electricity flying downward towards the village, striking one of the buildings and tearing down its walls. Unable to hear the panic, nor did he see the rising smoke or the glowing fire that followed, Naruto continued his climb with his emotions reaching an all-time high as he leapt forwards from the stairs and onto the top of the Hokage mountain.

Finally reaching his destination Naruto began making his way over towards his favorite spot in the village to watch the sunset, the top of his father's face. Many times, did Naruto find himself coming to this exact spot when he sought comfort when Jiraiya and Tsunade couldn't provide it for him. It was in a way the closest he has ever been to his father, and often he wished that him and his mother were still alive.

As he reached his destination Naruto noticed something off to the side. It was unnoticeable before, but thanks to his sharp eyes Naruto noticed that he wasn't the only person there on top of the Hokage monument. Sitting further down the mountain side Naruto saw the source of his inner turmoil sitting on the side of the cliff looking off into the distance.

Her still growing short crimson red hair seemed to have been fluttering amongst the wind while Naruto stood there amazed that she was there. At first, he thought that his mind was messing with him because just a few seconds earlier he was seething over the fact that she had seemingly ignored his existence entirely. The sudden resurgence of those thoughts brought back Naruto's rage, much to the delight of Ghidorah who was watching attentively to see what Naruto would do next.

Stomping his way over there, Naruto set a deadly glare upon Karin as his electrically charged chakra began to slowly emerge following the sudden rise in anger within Naruto. His pupils became slits and his eyes screamed for death. Ghidorah was floored with excitement as he was finally going to see his vessel claim his first kill, it would become the first of many he was sure as he watched on with anxiety building.

 _ **"Go on boy, do it, kill her!"**_ Ghidorah whispered into Naruto's ear as his manipulation caused a larger spark of power to begin surging from Naruto. _**"That's right, she has ignored you for the last time, now show her what happens to those that ignore us!"**_ Naruto's fist tightened as chakra enveloped it. _**"It wasn't your fault that those people died long ago,"**_ Ghidorah began again this time pulling from one of Naruto's earliest memories. _**"everyone calls you a freak because of it, and ever since then people have died around you one-by-one! Mizuki hates you because he believes you killed Tsubaki."**_

Upon registering that name Naruto dashed forward as blind rage filled him entirely. Dashing forward at the unexpecting Karin, Naruto brought his fist up to strike her with everything he had. With his new-found speed, Naruto was directly behind Karin before she could have realized it and was bringing down his fist that was aimed at her head. "Mom, why aren't you here?" Came a small yet suppressed cry from Karin.

Everything stopped as Naruto froze in place. "Why aren't you here when I need you? No one here knows what it's like to be me, no knows just how much I hate being alone!" Karin cried out quietly. Naruto for his part remained frozen in time as he listened to what it was that Karin was saying. "You left me here all alone, and now, now I'm forced to live in a place that only sees me as an object!"

With a slight fit, Karin's eyes released the tears that had been building up for quite some time now. She cried in silence not even aware of the boy that stood behind her, the same one that was previously charging at her with the intent to kill. Naruto's rage had already begun to subside, and much to the annoyance of Ghidorah he began to feel empathy. The chance that was presenting itself had now passed and with it Ghidorah's interest.

Naruto, for his part, was unable to truly understand how to approach this situation, sure he had learned stuff about girls from Jiraiya, although stuff that he didn't particularly find useful in this situation. Tsunade mentioned stuff about feelings and Shizune mentioned a little bit of stuff for more clarification, but all that information wasn't going to help him here. Unsure whether he should even do anything Naruto was preparing to leave and slowly began turning around as to not be noticed by the girl in front of him.

Eyes widening in realization Karin snapped her head around almost at terrifying speed to see Naruto standing behind her with shock evident on his face, as well as hers. The truth of the matter was that neither was expecting an interaction to occur at this location at all prior to arriving there, but now it appears that one would be happening regardless.

With a sudden rush of thoughts going through his head Naruto was unaware of what he had said until he heard his mouth speak it. "Uh, hi…" It was quick and expressive of Naruto's current thoughts. He had no clue as to what to do and so here he stood before Karin bewildered and unsure.

Karin on the other hand was taken back by Naruto's sudden appearance and stumbled slightly from her position on the cliff's edge nearly falling over. Seeing this Naruto grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back and away from the cliff. "Woah that was close, that's why you got to be careful when you sit so close to the edge up here." Naruto mentioned.

"What the heck are you doing here!" Karin demanded while giving Naruto a glare. Naruto began scratching his head sheepishly trying to figure out the best way of not exposing his previous spur the moment intent.

"I was coming up here to watch the sunset, this is where I come to think and get away from everybody." Naruto admitted. Karin was still glaring at him, but watched as he moved away to the side of her and pointed down to the last face on the mountain that was engraved in it when looking from left to right. "I came to sit on top of my dad's head." Karin was greatly confused until she looked down and saw that the face Naruto was pointing at. "He was the Fourth Hokage and his name was Minato Namikaze."

"What do you mean by was?" Karin asked as she thought it odd that Naruto was using past tense when addressing information about his father.

"Well you see, my father died on the night I was born when an unknown shinobi attacked my village, releasing the Kyuubi which in turn killed my mother who was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki at the time." Naruto stated as a sad expression set itself on his face. Karin's eyes widen as she remembered a picture in the Hokage's office of a blond-haired man with blue eyes. Now when she looked at Naruto she could see the resemblance, in fact she could say that aside from the whisker marks and the slightly roundish shape of his face he could have been a carbon copy of his father. "I come here often because it's one of the only places that makes it feel like I'm actually close to my dad."

"Why would you tell me that much information?" Karin asked him. Naruto just let a soft grin grace his face as he took a seat adjacent to her.

"Well we're both Uzumaki, that means we're practically a family, and a family doesn't keep secrets from each other." Naruto expressed before stuttering off. "Although it is common knowledge who my parents are and you would have found out eventually." Naruto just scratched his head sheepishly once again. Naruto found that it was uncomfortable trying to talk with Karin for some reason that was beyond him.

"A family," Karin muttered to herself. "that's something that I've never had, not since the moment I was born into this world." Naruto seemed surprised at the statement, from his guess though it seemed he wasn't the only one that had personal issues.

"I heard you trying to talk to your mom, although I guess you knew that, " Naruto hesitantly started as he got a look from Karin that expressed her annoyance at that fact. "but I wanted to know, what happened to your mother?"

Karin just looked away as she brought her knees up to her chest while looking over at the landscape before them. "She died while following her stupid duty to the village that trapped us." Karin stated bluntly causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Karin seeing this knew that she would have to explain a little bit more to Naruto so that he would understand, and considering that divulged his information to her it seemed fair. "My mother and I sought refuge in Kusagakure, the Kusakage at the time explained to my mother that in exchange of receiving residence that she was to heal all the injured in the village since she and I have unusual healing powers." Karin interjected as she paused herself in between seemingly as to prepare herself. "However, one day fighting broke out and a great conflict began, and as such my mother was forced to regularly use her powers, which eventually led to her dying from healing too many people at once and for me to take her place."

Naruto's eyes widened as he hadn't expected such a thing to happen to somebody before. Karin remained quiet for some time following her explanation allowing for Naruto to digest all the information. "I'm sorry." Naruto slightly stuttered out, unsure of how to address his empathy.

"Don't be, it happened a long time ago, I've gotten over it." Karin stated. Though she said she was over the topic Naruto could tell otherwise. The way she paused in between her explanation and her calling out to her mother prior to his arrival proved it.

Once more Naruto's blood began to boil. It wasn't mere anger this time, but true hatred, and this time it wasn't directed at Karin, but Kusa. The fact that someone from his clan was already being used and mistreated floored him.

Tightening his fists Naruto starred off into the landscape just as Karin was doing in hopes that she wouldn't notice the change in his mood. "I don't know why you're so angry, it's not like we know each other." Karin mentioned to Naruto who was taken out of his thoughts and looked back over at Karin. "We've only known each other for barely three weeks and for most of time we've only had two true interactions, this one included."

"Perhaps it's because I actually want to get to know you Karin." Naruto expressed getting a faint look from her. "For so long I thought that I was alone, sure I had my guardians, but never did it feel like that I had family."

Karin looked at him, for a moment Naruto saw understanding flash in her eyes, before disappearing and being replaced by the same sad red eyes that he had seen since they first met. Looking away from him Karin didn't say anything.

"Why are you afraid of having a family Karin?" Naruto asked as he got up and on to his feet as he tried to question her. "Why was it that you refused to speak to me normally up until now?"

"Please, just leave me alone." Karin begged Naruto as she buried her face into her legs. "Just leave me alone."

"I'm not doing that Karin, you've been alone for so long, longer than me perhaps, but I'm not going to let that continue!" Naruto boldly exclaimed.

"WHY?!" Karin yelled back. "Why are you so concerned over me?! Somebody you've never met nor even knew about up until a couple weeks ago!"

Naruto stood his ground however, not budging in the slightest. "Because we're the same!" Naruto stated sternly. "We've suffered for reasons outside of our control and because of those reasons we were denied the comfort and love that a family has." Unable to respond Karin just looked up at Naruto seeing the determination in his eyes. "Karin, we don't have to be alone anymore, we can be a family, but ultimately it falls to you to decide. If you choose to live a life of suffering and loneliness then you have my word that from this point on you will never have to deal with me ever again, that is a promise, and I never go back on a promise!"

The choice belonged to Karin, he gave it to her because he knew that such a thing was never up to the one offering, but the one who had the choice presented to them, much like when he was younger. Memories flowed through his mind of the darker times, times when before Jiraiya and Tsunade came into the picture. A time when family was a concept he knew nothing of, but only what he heard of.

A sudden pain struck at his heart as Naruto recalled all the memories. It was a different time, one that Naruto was glad that he was away from even though the current time, in his view, wasn't really all that much better.

Karin was just as hesitant as he was when he was younger. The look of reluctance but also yearning was clear to Naruto's eyes, it was only a matter of time though he was sure that he would receive an answer. "I have but one question Naruto." Karin addressed gaining his attention. "Why is that you want a family so bad? Surely you know that pain is insured?"

"Because, I want to escape my loneliness," Naruto began. "I want to know what true love feels like, I want to experience what it is to be a family. Yes, there may be pain, but there is also joy that follows having a family, and I truly believe that if you're a part of a family then you can push pass the pain knowing that you not alone. Family from how I understand it is always there, through the good and the bad no matter what family stays together, always."

"Until they're taken away." Karin mumbled to herself, although Naruto could pick up on it and scowled in response.

"Then you become stronger." Naruto expressed getting a confused look from Karin. "You become strong enough that you can protect your family from any threats that threaten it. I wish to become stronger so that my future family will be protected, and I'm fully prepared to give my life for that idea."

Karin didn't know what to say, she had never heard such words before, especially coming from somebody that seemingly was very much like her. The words processed through her mind as she tried to make sense as to why he was so determined, to her it made no sense. "Who are you?" Karin asked as she sought the answer to the blaring question that was now plaguing her.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of Konoha, and somebody who can hopefully call you family." Naruto answered confidently as he walked over towards Karin and offered her his hand. "But only if you wish for it."

Everything seemed to have been going by so fast Karin wasn't sure as to what she should do. For much of her life she only known of pain and suffering caused by others, yet here she was being offered something that she was denied of for so long by a boy with the same surname as her. Slowly though, Karin reached out with her hand and took Naruto's, who helped her up to her feet.

Holding her hand still Naruto gave her a reassuring smile as she wiped the tears away from her eyes that had begun streaming once again. "Come on Karin, let's go home." Naruto comforted getting a nod in response from Karin who was still a little emotional, which Naruto understood. Guiding her towards the stairs, Naruto never let go of Karin's hand the entire time, he didn't tighten his grip to the point that it would cause her pain, but he did tighten it as to reassure her that he wasn't lying and that he was serious. For some time, she did nothing in response but walk besides Naruto, but eventually she came to accept it and held his hand in return as they made their way down the mountain.

From the shadows Ghost watched the exchange, having been there from the beginning he did nothing. At first, he was tempted to stop Naruto from attacking Karin, and was prepared to stop him at the last second, but was relieved to find out that Naruto came to his senses.

Looking down near the spot where the two were previously he noticed a small snake emerge from the brush that was near it and began slithering as to follow them. Ghost knew what the snake was doing and left it alone, he knew who it was that was watching over Karin, he had noticed it whenever all the students were leaving from the academy. Anko was a woman not to be trifled with meaning Karin was safe enough to travel across the village without harm coming to her, of course there were those in the village that would try.

Noticing the blurs that quickly and quietly moved about in and around the area Ghost knew that since his charge was now making Karin a part of his family that he was going to fulfill his duty and protect Naruto from both the physical and mental pain and suffering that come from having one. Disappearing from his place Ghost began perusing the foolish pawns that so desperately wanted what would be denied to them once more.

* * *

The two squads had run into each other by sheer coincidence, both tasked with different tasks, but were now unified to accomplish their goals. Watching from a distance on top of one of the many roofs around the area, the group of individuals with plain white masks and the symbol for root placed on them waited for the pair to reach the base of the mountain where they would continue to wait until the opportunity presented itself.

"Remember, the girl is to be left untouched, the boy however, must be taken back with us." One of the two squad commanders reminded the others that were not tasked with his squad's capture mission reminded. No one said anything as they all remained quiet and aware, some of them felt tense, as though expecting something to happen.

"We're about to find out why it is that no one has ever survived this assignment that was given to them." One of the members mentioned causing many to have their hearts race. "Some say that the child is secretly a monster."

"I heard that a curse was placed on him that makes whomever he wants to die painfully." Another stated.

"Quiet, those are just stories the villagers have passed on, they're nothing more than rumors." The same commander from before scolded the men under his command.

"To be fair they're not wrong." Came a voice that sent all the "Root" shinobi on edge. Turning to the source of the voice both squads noticed a single cloaked individual standing before them with a solid black mask starring right at them. "Although I guess you could say to be more accurate that it's an angry spirit that watches over him that kills those that he wishes."

All the "Root" shinobi drew their weapons and prepared themselves. There was no information about a cloaked figure watching over Naruto, but it did make sense that there would be something protecting the boy.

No one said anything, each side was quiet, neither making a move. Ghost looked onward at every one of them. Counting fourteen in total he began casually making his way over to them. The "Root" Shinobi readied themselves for what was about to happen, but they would never realize what was going to happen.

In an instant everyone disappeared, not a sound was made, nor a trace was visible. Only Ghost remained as he reappeared on the roof of the building holding up another "Root" mask before placing it within his cloak.

Walking to the edge of the roof Ghost looked down and watched as Naruto and Karin made their way down the street. He was going to keep up his solemn watch, and no matter what, he would not let harm come to either of the two. Watching from afar Ghost determined that the two was safe. Looking over at the other roof Ghost noticed a silhouette of a woman. He could tell who she was as he say the hairstyle and trench coat. Deciding that it was alright to leave them for a moment, Ghost disappeared once again.

Deep underground Ghost reappeared before a desk in a rather plain looking office room with no additional furniture or décor aside from the desk and the chair behind it. On the desk were papers of movements and other intelligence gathered by shinobi from all over. On the wall behind the desk was the symbol for "Root" the same one that was one the mask. Pulling the mask out Ghost did as he planned and disappeared from the office just before the door leading to it opened.

Entering the office, Danzo made his way in before stopping abruptly as he looked across his office. His visible eye narrowed as he walked over to his desk before stopping in front of it. Looking up at the wall he saw fourteen "Root" masks, bloodied and nailed to the wall by the wielders' weapons. They were all arranged around the "Root" symbol that had a large cut going diagonal across it.

Danzo's fist clenched as he saw this as a clear challenge to himself. Whomever had done it was clearly intending this to be a warning, but for what he was unsure of as he had multiple squads in the field.

Finally taking notice of his desk, Danzo looked down and saw a kunai imbedded into two files. Pulling it out and opening both Danzo glare intensified as he saw that they were the files gathered on Naruto and Karin Uzumaki.

Tossing the kunai over at the wall on the other side of the room Danzo's scowl intensified as he took a seat behind his desk, ignoring the masks that were right behind him. "So, it seems as though someone doesn't want me to interfere with the only two Uzumaki that live in this village." Danzo muttered with anger quite evident in his tone. "To challenge me is a mistake that they will very much regret!"

Elsewhere, Ghost reappeared near Naruto and Karin who were now making their way home. Ghost saw that Anko had noticed him and was about to do something, when Ghost looked over at her and tossed over at her a scroll.

Anko, unsure as to who this unknown individual was caught the scroll and noticed the Hokage seal that was on it. Opening it up Anko read the confines of the document before acknowledging the content and rolling it back up before tossing it back over at Ghost, who caught it with ease. The two exchanged a look before Anko nodded and disappeared leaving Ghost to continue his watch, this time waiting to see if another "challenge" would occur tonight or not, but until that happened he was content with watching the two continue their way without any interruptions to disturb them.

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **Phew, talk about a work out session for my brain. Editing has gotten better though I'm still not delving to deep into it as I would like. As stated earlier chapters seven and eight will be posted tonight!**

 **(The following text is just left over from when this chapter was first uploaded for clarification)**

 **As you guys have read there were some hints and indications of not everything has been "all gumdrops and unicorns" so to speak for Naruto. There will be more coverage about the past in time, but on a quick note this is the last chapter for this little mini pilot arc because the next chapter will follow the graduation and team placements, which means we are no longer going to be bogged down in the academy days and will advance through to the story.**

 **Now then onto something else, Ghost. As you read he is fully prepared for a confrontation between himself and "Root", specifically Danzo. Danzo is still unaware of Ghost's presence since none of his Root shinobi have ever survived their encounters with him, nor has the information ever reached his ears. Some of the upper level shinobi such as Jonin, people in close to relation to the Hokage, and a hand few of Chunin are aware of Ghost. They have been informed to keep quiet about it by order of the Hokage, which was what Anko became aware of when she read that scroll, just for some clarification.**

 **Another bit of detail to mention is that by this time Karin does have Kurama. I didn't want to make it blatantly obvious considering she was talking to Naruto, but the part where she refers to people in the village seeing her as an object is the key indication.**

 **With that out of the way I think it's time to wrap everything up for this chapter. I will try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible, so please be patient. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, constructive criticism is very much appreciated! All right everyone I'll see you later! PEACE!**


	7. Discords

**Shin here with chapter seven of VGD. Oh, the editing I plan on doing after Chapter nine. I'd like to thank Kaibutsu-Shin for pointing out some notable issues with the story so far. I do plan on going back and editing the dialogue and the chapters themselves in greater detail once I get the next chapter out. For the most part I'm just fixing a few glaring issues and posting them up onto the new account. Yes, it sounds a tad lazy, but take it easy on me for the moment. I promise to get everything resolved by the end of summer.**

 **Now in this chapter we will be seeing the team compositions that will be in this story. For the most part the teams will be the same, such as the Ino-Shika-Cho, which, let's face it, is solid, and as for senseis, let's just say there was a lot of serious thought put into this first and for most as I was literally tempted to do something with this.**

 **Disclaimer: The following is fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, though soon I will be adding to the list T-T, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Discords...

All was abuzz as the young academy students were awaiting their turns to take the graduation exam that would make them genin. It has been almost a year since Naruto and Karin had their talk on top of the Hokage monument, and since then they've gotten to know each other better. Naruto had also been helping Karin open-up to more people. At first, she was hesitant when he tried to introduce her to his two friends Shikamaru and Choji, but thankfully with time she became more accustomed to them to the point she could have a casual conversation with either of them at a spur the moment.

Aside from that Naruto had also finally reached some decent control over his chakra thanks to his training regimen. It was a slower growth compared to the previous regimen, but with this one he didn't have to worry about collapsing due to chakra exhaustion.

Now, Naruto, Karin and Choji were waiting patiently in the corner of the room while the other students were busy gossiping and talking about who they thought would fail or pass. All the while the group of three waited for any sign of Shikamaru.

"The lazy bastard must be taking his sweet ass time if he hasn't already walked out yet." Naruto pointed out. "If I didn't know him any better I'd say that he went home following the test."

"It's not too farfetched considering his character." Karin added agreeing to the Naruto's last statement. "What do you think Choji?" Choji for his part wasn't really paying any attention, he was instead to busy eating some potato chips, rather quickly. "Uhm, Choji are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Choji blurted out as he sped up, finishing the contents of the bag before tossing aside into a growing pile and pulling out another bag of chips and quickly began eating out of it.

"Don't mind him he's just nervous." Came the lazy voice of Shikamaru who was making his way over to the group. "He does that whenever he's nervous about something."

"I am not!" Choji interjected only to begin choking on a chip. With a sigh Naruto hit Choji firmly in the back forcing him to cough up the chip and gasping for air. "Thanks."

"No problem." Naruto mentioned as he looked back over at Shikamaru and noticed he wasn't wearing a headband. "So, what, you didn't pass?"

Shikamaru just sighed as he pulled out a headband from his pocket and showed it to them. "Please, I may be lazy, but I'm sure as hell not stupid enough to piss off my mom." Shikamaru stated. "She would have my hide if I went home without it."

"Typical Shikamaru, looking out for himself so that he can sleep another day." Naruto mocked his friend with a grin. Shikamaru just waved it off as he took a seat next to Choji. "So, do you have any idea whose going next?"

"From what I could tell, they're going in order of clans to civilians, and considering they're also going at it randomly it's hard to tell." Shikamaru explained as he patted Choji on the back. "Sadly, though Sasuke just went in, that means that after him it's just you three." Choji seemed to have realized what Shikamaru was saying and sped up eating even more. Eventually Shikamaru decided to take the bag of chips away from him, something nobody has ever dared to consider.

Naruto and Karin watched on in amazement as Choji didn't even realize he was grabbing at air, while Shikamaru took the bag holding all his chips away from him. "Shikamaru, do you have any idea what you've done?" Karin asked him as they watched him dig through Choji's bag before pulling out a bag of chips.

"Yeah, I made sure that he wouldn't choke again." Shikamaru answered.

"You took away food that an Akamichi was eating, do you have a death wish?!" Karin questioned as she saw him open the bag in his hands and start eating the chips that were in it.

"Me and Choji go way back, he won't care so long as I leave at least one chip in the bag." Shikamaru stated while handing the Naruto and Karin a bag of chips each. "Just do the same as me and everything will be fine." Naruto and Karin looked over the bags in each of their hands before looking back at Choji then Shikamaru, and then exchanging a look themselves before shrugging and doing the same as Shikamaru.

Time went by rather quickly as Sasuke emerged from the testing room, something that became evident as the sound in the classroom elevated due to many of Sasuke's fans questioning him and congratulating him for his success on making it to genin. Naruto looked over at the scene and a frown found itself setting on his face.

It was no secret that Naruto considered Sasuke a rival, but to those that knew him, such as the small group of peers that Naruto was currently sitting with, they knew that Naruto disliked him secretly, mainly due to his cold attitude and general lack of compassion to most of the class even though they were praising him. It made Naruto's temper flare slightly before he cooled down upon registering the next name being called.

Stepping out from the testing room, Iruka looked at the clipboard that he was holding in his hands. "Karin Uzumaki, please enter for your graduation exam!" Iruka announced.

Karin, registering that her name was called got up and began making her way over towards the testing room that Iruka was waiting patiently in front of for her. "Good luck Karin." Naruto wished receiving a "thank you" in response.

While making her way over to the room some of the other members of the class began whispering incoherent words amongst each other. Some of them were looking over at her, but for the most part they avoid her gaze, or rather someone else's.

Watching the whole thing play out, Naruto and Shikamaru watched how the rest of the class were treating Karin. It was no secret that many of them found her to be weird, what with the fact she rarely associated with anyone else aside them and Choji. Although Naruto had already set most of the people straight, with the only ones knowing about what he did being those that were "talked to" and Shikamaru. The latter just being there to ensure that nothing got to out of hand.

"What a bunch of jerks." Shikamaru sighed as he finished eating whatever chips were in his hand before leaning back in his seat and placing his arms behind his head. "You'd think that they'd wise up and realize that there is absolutely no reason for their conduct." Looking over at Naruto, Shikamaru noticed that Naruto was clearly displeased with the whole situation, he almost thought he saw Naruto's pupils become slits but upon blinking he saw that they were still the same.

"They have some nerve," Naruto began as he tightened his grip on the table he was sitting at. "they know nothing about Karin, and yet they decide to mistreat her for what, not talking to them, or hanging out with us?!"

With a loud "snap" the entire class became quiet and turned to the source of the noise and saw that the table that Naruto was sitting at had snapped in half where his hand had been applying pressure. Noticing the deathly glare being directed at them, the other students realized their mistake and quickly began changing to some different topics. Iruka, who saw the whole thing just sighed as he directed Karin into the testing room. She hadn't said a thing, but it was clear that she did hear the table snapping.

Over with Naruto, Shikamaru was leaning over towards Choji who had stopped what he was doing and looked over at Naruto as well. He was surprised by the sudden loud sound and it was easily shown on his face. "Uhm, Naruto, I think you've made your point." Shikamaru stated trying to get his friends attention.

Looking over at Shikamaru and then Choji, Naruto looked down at his hand and noticed that he had, once again, broken a table in the classroom because of his growing strength. Releasing the table that was being held up by his deadly grip, he watched as the whole thing collapsed to his feet. Shikamaru and Choji, who were down a row began to slightly push the bits of table that were a little too close to them away from their heads as they watched Naruto walk over the pieces of the table and fall into a seat next to Shikamaru that was directly next to the window.

Grumbling something incoherent Naruto turned his body away from everyone so that he was leaning on his right arm and his attention was directed to the outside view provided by the window. Everyone that saw this decided to not push anything that might set Naruto off the edge.

'Ever since his chakra has surfaced he's been getting angered far more easily than prior to it surfacing, strange.' Shikamaru thought as he reviewed Naruto's behavior, unaware that Choji was starting to look for his bag of chips. 'There must be causing this aggression.'

Finding the bag of chips near Shikamaru, including a couple of near empty bags of chips Choji's eye twitched before he reacted. Demanding answers from Shikamaru, who was brought out of his thoughts, Choji demanded why Shikamaru ate his chips that were meant to ease his mind.

While this happening Naruto's face contorted as though he was in pain. He could feel it, his rage, it was growing, nourishing itself off the negative energy that provided by himself, but that wasn't all, he kept hearing a voice, whispering into his ear. It was telling him to kill all the ones that were treating him and his friends like outcasts. The urge was pressing hard, but Naruto ignored it the best he could. He found it hard to deal with at times, the whispering, but he has found it easier to deal with in time.

Soon though Naruto noticed that everything had begun going by rather quickly as Karin returned feeling triumphant as she sported her new headband for the group to see. Each of them was glad for her, although Choji nearly had a heart attack upon hearing his name being called, thankfully Shikamaru managed to get him on his feet and over towards the exam room where Iruka made sure that Choji had calmed down before bringing him inside.

Once Choji was in the exam room Shikamaru began collecting all the bags of chips that were laying all over the place so that he could dispose of them in the trash. Naruto and Karin assisted him as they recognized the messy food habits of a nervous Akamichi. Occasionally, the group would find chips on the floor, which was a rarity with Choji, but neither impossible either.

Overall it took them no time in cleaning up the chip mess, while Naruto quickly began carrying the pieces of the broken table over to the corner near the trash can just like all the previous times. It was an odd sight at times seeing someone like Naruto carrying several lengthy and considerably heavy pieces of wood over to that same spot all in one trip, but it was a clear indication that he wasn't the same Naruto as before.

Eventually came out of the Exam room with a sense of relief as he looked down in his hands at his new headband ambiguously. Though the whole sense was brief, Choji found himself standing in front of his friends, whom congratulated him for his accomplishment. "I wouldn't say that was entirely an accomplishment, but rather by the skin of my teeth." Choji admitted. "I was so nervous that I nearly messed four times while I was inside."

"But you still got your headband, which means that you passed, regardless of what happened in there." Naruto pointed out causing Choji to look down at his headband once more. "Think of as a checkpoint, you're now a step closer to becoming a professional shinobi!"

"Naruto's right, think positive Choji, now you can as much food as you want in honor of celebrating your graduation." Karin addressed causing said Akamichi's eyes to suddenly light up in excitement at such a prospect.

"Hey, now don't go and fill his head with food right now, we still have to wait for one of us to pass before we can go out and get something to eat." Shikamaru stated making Choji stopped fantasizing about the amount of food that he was planning on eating. Each of the group members turned to looked over at Naruto who smirked and brought his thumb up to point at himself.

"Don't worry about me, I won't be but a couple minutes." Naruto confidently mentioned as he noticed Iruka walking out of the exam room and into the classroom. Seeing that Naruto was already in front of the door Iruka gestured him over. "Well, I'll be back in a few seconds."

Naruto began making his way over to Iruka whom guided him into the exam room. Once inside the room Naruto was instructed to stand in the middle of the room in front of both Iruka, Mizuki and a couple of other instructors the academy had positioned to over head the exams.

"Before we start I would like to apologize for breaking another one of the academy's tables Iruka-sensei." Naruto quickly addressed with a bow to show his sincerity. Although Iruka just waved it off as did most of the other instructors as the feat had already plagued them throughout the last half of the year, but each time Naruto apologized and cleaned up the mess each time.

"Don't worry about it Naruto, just so long as the mess was cleaned up then everything will be fine." Iruka commented allowing for some reassurance to settle in Naruto's consciousness. "Now then Naruto we will need you to perform three basic ninjutsu for you to pass. Your other scores from your academics, shuriken and kunai accuracy, taijutsu and genjutsu testing have already been assorted into your overall score, this is your final test to prove you have what it takes to become a genin."

Nodding in conformation, Naruto readied himself for whatever basic jutsu the instructors wished for him to perform. "In accordance with the graduation exams you may decide the first two ninjutsu that you wish to perform, whereas the final the jutsu will be decided upon us the instructors." Iruka explained. "If you have any questions feel free to ask."

"Iruka-sensei, I was wondering if it is okay to perform jutsu that are higher than the standard E-rank that is required for a genin to pass?" Naruto asked receiving a mix of confused looks from a couple of the other instructors.

"Well, it is not entirely out of line with the guidelines since if you can perform a jutsu that is classified higher than the traditional E-rank then by all means you may, however, I wish to know why it is that you'd ask that?" Iruka questioned back.

"Naturally I have a large pool of chakra to pull from when casting jutsu, but because of this my control over it for lower classification ninjutsu is nearly impossible for me to achieve due to the miniscule amount of chakra necessary for the jutsu to be performed effortlessly." Naruto explained as he demonstrated by attempting to make an academy taught clone jutsu. With a sudden pop of smoke a feeble and pale looking clone emerged causing the academy instructors to sweat drop in response. "As you can see it is impossible for me to do the basic ninjutsu taught by the academy, except for transformation and substitution, but even then, it took several weeks of practice to perform those techniques and reach this point with the basic clone jutsu."

"Well you do have a point, it would seem as though the academy jutsu aren't truly representative of what you could do, so what jutsu will you instead be performing?" One of the other instructors asked Naruto, whom became rather cheeky suddenly.

It was the same expression that Naruto adorned whenever he was being mischievous, as such Iruka quickly prepared himself. "In accordance to the graduation exam's ruling I get to pick the first two ninjutsu, and considering you said that any ninjutsu is technically allowed I will start off with one of my signature jutsu!" Iruka suddenly realizing what it was Naruto was about to do began dashing over the desk as to stop Naruto.

"NARUTO DON'T YOU DARE!" Iruka roared as he attempted to bop Naruto on the head, only for Naruto to disappear in a puff of smoke. As Iruka's hand kept going it was stopped by something slimy.

"What the hell just happened?!" An elder voice questioned as the smoke cleared and Iruka's hand was caught by a small green toad with white eyebrows and a small beard. "What has that fool done? And where the hell am I?"

Iruka quickly recognizing the elderly toad retracted his hand before quickly apologizing to the toad. "Lord Fukasaku, please forgive me I was attempting to discipline Naruto!" Iruka apologized while the other instructors recognized the name and became nervous as well.

"That fool, I was in the middle of talking with Jiraiya over at the compound and the next thing I now I'm in this place and about to be hit in the head!" Fukasaku groaned in annoyance.

"Yes well, Naruto is currently in the middle of his graduation exam, he was instructed to perform three ninjutsu although he bore his typical mischievous look and well I had to react to stop him." Iruka explained.

"Hmm, and he decided on substituting with me to escape punishment, rather crude but neither stupid either." Fukasaku mentioned as he stroked his beard while thinking the whole thing over.

"Do you think you could return to the compound and have him return so that he could finish his exam?" Iruka asked of the Toad.

"What do you mean, he's still here." Fukasaku explained causing Iruka and the other instructors to falter.

"Then, where is he?!" Iruka questioned, before he noticed Fukasaku disappear in puff of smoke and for Naruto to emerge in his place.

"I've been here the entire time sensei." Naruto chuckled as smirked at his sensei's plight.

"NARUTO DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DOING?!" Iruka yelled, while Naruto just kept looking at him with the same smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah, I was showing off my first ninjutsu, transformation." Naruto answered casually causing Iruka to face palm before shaking his head. "Hey, you did say that I could pick any ninjutsu I wanted, what you never mentioned was how I went about executing it."

"Do you plan on doing this with the next jutsu as well?" Iruka asked him, only receiving a blank stare in response that almost screamed "are you serious". Groaning, Iruka walked back over to his seat behind the desk with the other instructors before signaling Naruto to proceed.

"Alright, jutsu number two!" Naruto cheered on as he began flashing through hand signs. Many of the instructors prepared themselves, as Naruto's random behavior was something that wasn't to be trifled with. "Here we go!" With sudden enthusiasm Naruto began yelling as the group thought they saw chakra began to emerge from his body. The lights began to flicker and many were questioning what it was that he was doing. Every few seconds some of them swore they saw jolts of electricity surge out of Naruto but just as quickly as it began it ended with Naruto standing there before them in the same position.

A few seconds went by before the Instructors began looking around the room as though trying to see what it was that he did. Ultimately though nothing was out of the ordinary. Seeing as how Naruto was still in the prone position Iruka attempted to get his attention. "Uhm, Naruto, what were you trying to do?" There was no response. Attempting again Iruka found that Naruto wasn't responding, suddenly noticing the grin plastered on Naruto's face Iruka's eyes twitched as Naruto chuckled into a laughing fit.

"You should have seen your faces!" He laughed. "All I was doing was messing with the lights and you thought something big was going to happen!" His laughter continued on causing the other instructors to get annoyed at his antics.

"Naruto," Iruka began as he was suddenly in front of Naruto. "why aren't you taking this exam seriously?" It was simple, but it was filled with malice as Naruto looked up at a silhouetted Iruka with deadly glowing eyes.

"Because it's my last day here, and that I'm still waiting for you to notice something." Naruto chuckled. Iruka having had enough bopped Naruto in the head, and as a result he puffed out of existence. Everyone's eyes were like dinner plates, wide eyed as they realized that Naruto was a shadow clone and that the real one wasn't in the room with them.

Finally registering what happened a knock came at the door everyone turned to look on as Naruto opened the door and walked in with a line of Naruto's following behind him. All the academy instructors looked on as they saw the seemingly unending train of Naruto clones keep entering the room. After a minute, there was almost a hundred Naruto clones in the room with them, all standing before Iruka.

"So Iruka-sensei, if you count correctly there is are exactly ninety-eight shadow clones standing before you, and yes they are shadow clones." Naruto addressed as many of the instructors were floored at seeing so many. "I assure you that they are all solid, and that the previous one is one that I made earlier this morning whom I substituted with while I made these guys in the hallway, and though it might seem like I'm ignoring the rules, but I went ahead and performed three ninjutsu for you guys all at once."

No one muttered even a word as Iruka walked over to a clone and poked it in the face causing said clone to smirk before poking back causing Iruka to go wide eyed once more. "These are solid." Iruka whispered before looking over to the presumed true Naruto. "Naruto dispel them so that we can tell they're clones."

Doing as he was instructed all the clones disappeared leaving only one there in front of Iruka smirking. "So, do I pass?" Naruto asked. Iruka, straightening himself up began heading back over to the desk.

"Though you did perform three jutsu, in accordance with the graduation exam's rules you are only allowed to pick two," Iruka began causing Naruto to scowl slightly in annoyance. "However, due to the feat that you presented us with, we have no choice but to graduate you. Congratulations Naruto!" Iruka grabbed one of the many headbands that was placed on the table and tossed it over to Naruto who couldn't help but smile in excitement.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto thanked as he looked as his headband in his hands and couldn't help but cheer in excitement and joy.

"Now then Naruto, make sure that you show up in two days for the team placements." Iruka informed Naruto who nodded in understanding before making his way out of the room and back over to the classroom, all the while leaving the instructors perplexed at the whole situation.

"Talk about unpredictable." One instructor mentioned to the others while Iruka reached over to look at his clipboard. "Just about a year ago he was unable to he does some of miniscule shinobi craft due to the lack of chakra, yet now he can perform three jutsu almost rapidity."

"Let alone the trickery that was used to misdirect us into thinking he had substituted with Lord Fukasaku." Another stated. "He is definitely shinobi material, but his foolishness might get in the way."

Iruka just let a soft smile grace his face as he heard Naruto and his friends leave the class and make their way out of the classroom already planning on where they were heading to next to celebrate. Thinking back on it, he couldn't help but feel proud.

"Iruka, why did you allow him to pass without giving the third jutsu as stated in the ruling?" The only female instructor in the room asked.

"Well, I have been his instructor since he first started here at the academy, I saw how much he struggled to keep up with the class," Iruka began while writing down Naruto's score before looking over his overall score. "Starting at below average, very much like Lee, he managed to practice and work hard to the point that he was able to just barely beat Sasuke for Rookie of the year."

Everyone couldn't believe it, they all raced over to see the scores themselves. Looking over the board all of them were surprised upon seeing that Naruto was indeed the Rookie of the Year by only a two-point difference. "Let's look at this as another example that each student has potential to become a Rookie of the Year, so long as you are willing to invest into them." Iruka mentioned receiving a unanimous nod from all the instructors, all except for Mizuki.

Walking pass the rest of the instructors Iruka informed them that he was going to begin the civilian children and that he wanted them all to take their seats so that they would be ready when he re-enters. Proud with how his student has performed Iruka went head on into the rest of the exams ready to see whom else will join Naruto in the graduating class.

* * *

Outside the academy, parents and family were waiting for their kids to come out triumphantly with their new headbands. Many of them already knew that their children would come out genin, because they knew the amount of effort that their children committed was sure enough to make them genin material in their books, while other wondered whether their child or children would become genin at all.

Eventually the doors opened and the graduating class came forth, proud of their new headbands and new rank. Once Naruto and company came out Choji was quickly taken by his father who hugged his son and congratulated him on his success.

Shikamaru looked over and saw his father, who was seemingly hesitant in asking whether he passed or not. Holding up his headband his father let out a sigh of relief before making his way over to Shikamaru and patting him on the back. The exchange was quiet, which was common place amongst the two Nara clan members, as anything else would have been too much effort.

Naruto and Karin watched the exchanges take place amongst their friends and their parents, and their peers and their families. Naruto saw the Hyuga with Hinata, Shino Aburame and his father, Kiba and his mother and sister, and Sasuke was with his father, mother and older brother Itachi who was out of his Anbu attire for once.

Both looked at each other for a moment before shrugging and making their way out of the Academy grounds. It was silently agreed between the two upon realizing that the group's original plans weren't going to be happening, so they decided to just leave and let their friends celebrate with their families.

Even though the two of them were silent and seemingly quick to get to the streets, they weren't as evasive as they thought. Noticing the two leaving, Itachi wondered what Naruto and Karin were up to. The fact that they seemed to be in a hurry to get away from the academy to do who knows what seemed odd.

Looking around the courtyard Itachi realized why they left, there was no one there to congratulate them. A sad expression adorned his face as he watched the two disappear into the streets. The expression was brief as he noticed a shadow seemingly blur towards the direction in which the two were going.

Activating his sharingan quickly Itachi finally noticed who it was that was following the two and deactivated his sharingan upon recognition. Itachi had finally remembered that even though they seemingly had no one there to meet them, one they still had each other, and two, they would never truly be alone because they always had someone watching over them, protecting them and ensuring that they wouldn't suffer. Though he remembered that Itachi still didn't feel at ease, true Jiraiya and Tsunade were always busy, and sure Anko was Anko, but they were still the guardians of those two, and yet there they went leaving the academy after graduation without anyone congratulating them or expressing their pride in them.

He wasn't the only one as Choji and Shikamaru also noticed the two were gone. They hadn't even noticed them walking off, and both exchanged an understanding look. They knew very well why it was they probably did what they did, and for that reason they didn't blame them. With a some confirmation from their parents of them joining the Yamanaka for their graduation celebration they were ushered off with their parents, leaving with the knowledge that Naruto and Karin didn't want to interrupt them.

Down one of the many streets that lined the village, Naruto and Karin were walking alongside each other as they tried to think of what they could do to celebrate for their own graduation celebration. Before long the conversation got side tracked and the two began talking about other topics.

"So, I take it that Jiraiya couldn't make it and Tsunade is bogged down at the hospital?" Karin asked Naruto, who nodded his head. "And I take it that Shizune is stuck with Tsunade as well?"

"Yeah, although I wasn't expecting anything anyway." Naruto admitted. "To be quite honest I was expecting this to happen, it made sense, but what about you and Anko?"

Karin shook her head. "Anko stated that once I graduated that she was no longer my guardian, it was temporary." Karin explained. "Although it would've been nice to get some dango afterwards."

"Well we could still get some if you want." Naruto pointed out as he pulled out his wallet, only to find it full of air. It was a sad sight indeed, slight despair took over Naruto as he whimpered at the loss of money, before a sudden thought came to mind. "That old pervert."

"Who Jiraiya?" Karin asked, getting a grumble in response. "I take that as a yes."

"Earlier I had a shadow clone over at the compound transform into the old geezer toad that taught the Pervy-sage so that I could mess with the instructors during the graduation exam," Naruto began while getting a look from Karin over the fact that he decided to mess with the Academy instructors during such a pivotal exam. "I merely used it for substitution and I won't lie, it was rather entertaining. Anyways, I appeared over at the compound where apparently, he and my clone were in a conversation. I told him that it was a clone and he freaked out, we got into a tussle while he tried to scold me like usual, I broke free, however, when I got free I noticed that he wasn't following in pursuit of me which means…"

"Well I guess that solves that mystery." Karin stated before continuing onward with Naruto seething at the thought of Jiraiya taking his money before he eventually began to follow. Off to the side Ghost, whom was watching, disappeared from the area.

* * *

Elsewhere, Jiraiya was enjoying his free time by researching material for his new book. He was currently perched up high on one of the few buildings that could grant him a view of the hot springs in Konoha. Enjoying his vices, Jiraiya was unaware of the spectral figure that was making his way over towards him.

"Oh yeah, that's right honey, go on and enjoy yourself!" Jiraiya perversely chuckled. "Maybe I should head over to good old Tanzaku Town for some additional research. Hehe, thanks to Naruto's antics I have some additional cash that I can use to get some lovely ladies' to "assist" me in my pursuit of research."

Ghost, shaking his head at Jiraiya's behavior, moved closer to Jiraiya. Unaware that his presence was discovered, Ghost advanced. Jiraiya, sensing someone cautiously advancing towards him readied himself.

Once Ghost was a little closer Jiraiya sprang to life and turned around as fast as possible bringing his left arm around to strike at the adversary. When his fist met air Jiraiya took notice that the area behind him concealed no individual, rather it was empty, much like it had been so far.

Confused, Jiraiya straightened himself up and crossed his arms as he tried to figure out what it was that he sensed. "Strange, I could have sworn that somebody was behind me…" Jiraiya carefully eyed behind his shoulder as he saw something in the corner of his eye begin to move. "well then I guess I'll just continue my research."

With a sudden jolt Jiraiya's body was facing the hot springs just as it was before, but just like when he turned around Jiraiya found nothing. "Okay, what the hell is going on?" Jiraiya questioned. "I know somebody is here."

From nowhere, Jiraiya was assaulted by some figure cladded in black. He couldn't even react fast enough as he found himself being dragged off to some unknown place. Before Jiraiya realized what had happened to him, he was falling into some rather hot water. Reacting just as anyone else would Jiraiya sprang for the surface as to catch his breath, but when he did he was met with a rather terrifying sight.

With towels covering themselves, the women in the hot springs that were bathing in peace sent daggers towards the sannin who was even more confused than before. Catching a quick glance up Jiraiya saw Ghost standing on top of one of the walls holding his wallet. Waving his free hand to signal "good bye" Ghost disappeared leaving Jiraiya in the "lion's den".

"Hehe, this is just a big misunderstanding I assure you." Jiraiya attempted as he tried to explain the circumstances as to why he was in the women's bathing area when the first blow met him in the face. Soon many other women were beginning to bare down onto the white haired sannin, it was then that Jiraiya realized that majority of the women bathing today were all Kunoichi as they utilized painful taijutsu that was specifically designed by Kunoichi to inflict serious harm to male shinobi.

For a long while anyone that neared the area in which the hot springs was located at could have sworn they heard cries of pain along with animalistic shouting and yelling, although the source wasn't identifiable and many chose not to near it for their own safety.

Meanwhile, Ghost reappeared on a building that allowed him to look downwards and see Naruto and Karin walking down the streets of Konoha. Making sure nothing had occurred that led to either of them being harmed in anyway by looking them over from a distance Ghost looked over at the wallet in his hand.

Looking at the confines within, he began to count the amount that was inside, confirming that everything was in order before looking back down at the two newly appointed genin. Looking off to the side, Ghost tossed the wallet over the edge of the building, waiting for it to land in the confines of the intended targets.

Naruto and Karin were making their way through downtown when suddenly, an object fell before their feet. Directing their attention to the item at their feet, Naruto picked it up as to see what it was. For some reason, he could have sworn that it looked familiar, but for the life of him he didn't know why.

Opening it up Naruto starred at the contents for a few moments before a large smirk to center stage on his face. "Well karma is on my side today after all." Naruto chuckled to himself causing Karin to question what it was in his hands.

"What is it Naruto?" Karin questioned only for Naruto to chuckle to himself in delight.

"This is the Pervy-sage's wallet." Naruto answered with a slight laugh in his voice. "Looks like we can celebrate as much as we want now!" Karin just paled as she looked at the wallet in Naruto's hand as though it were a bloodied weapon.

"Are you sure that we shouldn't return it, I mean it is Jiraiya's and he is a part of the legendary sannin." Karin didn't like the idea of the two of them taking Jiraiya's hard earned money to do as they pleased, it just didn't sit right with her.

"What are you talking about? He practically stole my money this morning, I'm only returning the favor because Karma seems to have dictated that this is compensation." Naruto explained as he tossed the wallet up into the air and then catching it with the same hand repeatedly.

"I don't know Naruto, I just don't feel right in using his money." Karin admitted.

"Then if it makes you feel better then we'll just use the money that he stole from me and leave the rest where it belongs." Naruto suggested. Noticing Karin becoming laxer with the idea she nodded. "Alright then, you get to pick where we should go to celebrate."

"Why are you letting me pick?" Karin asked.

Naruto just gave her a big smile before making his way down the road. "Well it's common courtesy to let girls go first, so that means that you get first picks on where we go." Naruto answered while turning back to face her. Karin acknowledging the answer caught up to Naruto as to walk besides him before thinking about where they could go.

Ghost watched everything from the roof, feeling satisfied that the two would now be able to do as they wanted for their graduation. Preparing to follow, Ghost stopped in place as he turned and faced a beat up and soaked Jiraiya standing few feet away from him on the same roof.

Looking over the sannin Ghost noticed that Jiraiya's legs were shaking including several bruises and a black eye, he could only wonder what tortures the man went through over at the hot springs. "Ghost, give me my wallet." The voice was eerily calm. Sensing a large amount of malice coming from the man. "Do not make me ask twice."

Ghost not even deciding to mess around looked away as he watched the two make it further down the road. Thinking it over Jiraiya would want his wallet back at all costs for many reasons, but for the rest of the day he would not be getting it. "I'm sorry but I can't do that." Ghost replied as a large spike in the amount of malice skyrocketed.

"And pray tell, why is it that you refuse to give me back my wallet?" Jiraiya demanded as he began to slowly make his way over to Ghost.

"Perhaps next time you should be careful of what you do, because karma has a sick sense of humor." Ghost remarked as he disappeared leaving Jiraiya on the roof alone seething in anger as he attempted to pursue him, but found his legs weren't up to the task.

'Damn him! Wait until I see him next time!' Jiraiya thought as he held his gut with his right hand and took a seat on the roof to rest. 'As for what he said, what did I do to have my wallet taken from me?'

* * *

Within a two-day time, span Naruto, Karin, Shikamaru, and Choji found themselves once again sitting in the same classroom they had previously been learning for the past few years. Although this time it was different, today was the day that they would be getting their team compositions and find out who their senseis would be.

Many of them couldn't wait to get started, but for two members of the four genin group that situated themselves off in the corner of the room next to the windows, they were prepared to take a nap. Even though they were wanting to Karin ensured that neither would nod off as to ensure that they knew which teams that they were going to be assigned.

"Will you two pay attention already, we need to find out from Iruka-sensei who our instructors will be!" Karin quietly scolded Naruto and Shikamaru. Both looked and yawned as they finally decided to play along before eyeing each other and nodding, but before they could even attempt anything else they were pulled up near Karin's face by her two hands leading them to see a rather terrifying Karin. "Don't even think about casting a genjutsu or utilizing ninjutsu that would allow you to sleep while masking it from others! If you do, I will see to it that neither of you will ever have peaceful night of sleep ever again!"

Nodding in understanding, Karin let them both go and waited for Iruka to enter the room much like the other students that were also there. Many of which were surprised that Naruto had passed Sasuke as the "Rookie of the Year". Looking over at him and seeing the black clothed headband, Sasuke's scowl was quite evident to many that saw him.

Ignoring the looks being directed over towards them, Naruto looked up once he heard the door to the classroom open, and the rest followed suit as they watched Iruka enter the classroom with Mizuki. After closing the door and making their way over to the center of the room Iruka, with Mizuki standing behind him next to the chalkboard, cleared his throat.

"Alright then from this day forward you are no longer mere students, but full-fledged shinobi." Iruka began as he addressed all the now genin sitting before him. "But among the ranks of shinobi you are the lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead of you now." Turning to look over his shoulder at Mizuki, who nodded in understanding, began to address the group once more as Mizuki began writing on the chalkboard at the front of the classroom.

"The next step of course is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of the village and to do that we will begin by dividing you into teams of three that will be monitored by a Jonin sensei, who will guide and coach you on your road to becoming a successful shinobi." Iruka explained as Mizuki finished writing the different teams on the board and who would be leading them. There were no student names yet written there, but many presumed that was because it was meant to be this way as Iruka would announce the names Mizuki would write them on the board under their designated team. "Now then I will begin reading off the team listings, and if you miss your name being called you can look up at the board and see where your name falls."

With that Iruka began calling out the names of students in order from team to team, starting with Team One. Time seemed to have gone by at a steady pace as Iruka called out the first five teams and nothing seemingly interesting happened, it was until he got to the sixth team that he was calling out that things started picking up. "Team Seven will consist Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto and Karin Uzumaki!" Iruka announced getting some surprised and downtrodden looks. Naruto and Karin looked at each other and grinned before high fiving each other, before Naruto looked over and noticed that Sasuke was looking over at him. Naruto starred back a blank look causing Sasuke to falter slightly as to why Naruto did that and the two nearly missed the name of their sensei. "Team Seven will be led under Kakashi Hatake!" Almost immediately recognizing that name Naruto nearly stumbled from his seat as he caught himself getting a glance from Iruka. "Naruto, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is alright Iruka-sensei, I just realized that it's going to be awhile before we see him." Naruto commented getting mixed looks of confusion from the rest of the class, Karin included as he situated himself in his seat.

Iruka knowing full well what it was Naruto was referring to couldn't help but acknowledge the truth, and that was the ethics of Kakashi Hatake. "You're right about that Naruto, so since we'll have an intermission after this up to the time when everyone will meet their senseis I suggest extending that for your team by about two hours." Iruka suggested as Naruto agreed.

Seeing as there were no interruptions Iruka continued to Team Eight that was led by Kurenai Yūhi, which consisted of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame. Then he concluded with Team Ten, which was under Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Third Hokage, which consisted of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akamichi. With the announcement concluded, Iruka wished all his former students luck before allowing them to leave and meet up with their teams.

Shikamaru groaned before inevitably giving in and waved Karin and Naruto goodbye along with Choji as they went over to Ino, who was for the most part annoyed that she didn't get the same team as Sasuke, but also accepted it as she pretty much knew that her team would be the same as her father's. Kiba met up with Hinata and Shino, which were both rather opposite to him, but were nonetheless willing to give him a chance. They left together as to get acquainted with each other, and following them was Iruka and Mizuki, who had to go take care of some other matters. Naruto could've sworn that Mizuki tried to send a glare over at him before he left the room, but for some reason he stopped half-way and continued out of the classroom.

With the numbers beginning to dwindle Naruto and Karin noticed that Sasuke had done the same as them and waited for most of the others to leave before getting up and doing the same thing. Making their way to the door the group came together. "So, I guess we're a team now." Naruto stated getting nothing in response at first. "I guess that means we should get acquainted with each other."

"Hardly." Sasuke replied coldly, striking one of Naruto's nerves. "What I don't understand is how someone like you even managed to pass me and claim "Rookie of the Year". The only reason you seemed to have claimed it was because of your lineage and nothing more."

To say Naruto was fuming was an understatement, he was livid. He wanted nothing more than to beat the hell out of Sasuke for presuming such a notion. 'Does he really think that Iruka-sensei, one of the most understanding yet disciplined instructors here, chose to make me Rookie of the Year based off who my parents were?!' Naruto roared in his head.

"What are you talking about?! Naruto has had to work hard just to catch up with you in terms of ninjutsu, and of course his weakness in genjutsu was always going to be a problem, but in all other fields Naruto has had no problem standing as your equal." Karin pointed out.

"You're not a part of this so stay out!" Sasuke ordered. It was something that he shouldn't have done as a radiating killer intent laced itself across the classroom. Looking over at Karin, Sasuke only saw glowing burning eyes laced in crimson sending a deathly glare so fierce it terrified him.

"Let me put it to you mildly Sasuke," Naruto began calmly gaining the attention of his newly admitted teammate. "don't you ever presume that I am given special treatment just because my dad was the Fourth Hokage. There is nothing worse than living in a shadow, and I sure as hell am not going to live like that!"

Sasuke was buying any of it, instead it seemed to have angered him even more. "You don't know what it's like to live in a person's shadow, so don't even try and pull that off on me!" Sasuke hissed as each of his words held venom. "A person like you doesn't even know what it means to struggle!"

With that Sasuke found a fist going pass his head and breaking down the wall that was right behind him that the door was connected to. Looking over his shoulder and following the fist from hand to shoulder Sasuke looked up and raw inhumane hatred.

"No, _you_ do not know the true meaning of struggling." Naruto began as he retracted his fist and grabbed Sasuke by his shirt, pulling him up in the air. "I'll give you a tip Sasuke, drop that attitude of yours. If you don't _I will break you_!" The warning was clear and simple, Naruto was provoked and it became quite evident that he was willing to the same thing he did to the wall to Sasuke.

"I'm not scared of you Naruto, you're just a kid who can break things especially if you lose your cool. That's why you've never beaten me in a taijutsu match, nor any competition we were placed in together, because your weaker than me." Sasuke stated.

Nothing happened, Naruto's were darkened over by the shadow of his hair and Sasuke remained unfazed despite his predicament. Karin was fully prepared to side with Naruto should Iruka or another instructor come by and see the display.

Finally relenting his hold on Sasuke's shirt, Naruto remained quite before looking up at Sasuke with blank eyes. "Then why don't we settle this matter outside, after all, our new sensei won't arrive for quite a while, so let's finish this." Naruto coldly stated.

"Uhm, earth to Naruto, your forgetting something." Karin blurted out causing said blonde to look over at her and ask "what?". "You broke a wall at the academy, if Iruka finds out we're dead!"

Looking over at the fallen wall Naruto finally began to take notice of his actions, but didn't seem utterly fazed. "It's fine Karin, don't worry about it, I'll beat Sasuke and then go straight to Iruka-sensei and explain that I was the one who broke down the wall." Naruto replied as he began to walk pass Sasuke into the debris filled hall. Noticing that Sasuke was watching him, but at the same time not moving, Naruto decided to speak up. "What's wrong? You don't seriously think that I would fight you in the classroom, do you? That would be foolish on both our parts, because if anything else breaks I'm going to get another job."

Understanding the reasoning Sasuke followed suite leaving Karin standing in front of the large hole in the wall wondering why exactly the whole thing was even happening. "Male pride, the only thing that would dare to disrupt natural order." She sighed before eventually leaving to catch up with the two.

As she did though something had struck her in the gut, whatever it was it wasn't visible. Doubling over on her knees another hit was applied to her from an unknown assailant, this time forcing her into unconsciousness. Before the darkness took over, Karin could have sworn she heard a voice, but it was fuzzy due to her hearing being impaired by the blow to the head.

"Now I…back at…for you…" The voice was unclear in elaborating what the reasoning for the assault was, but it meant that she was the target regardless. The last thing she did hear was a sound of glass breaking, and the scurrying of feet.

* * *

Outside, standing in the Academy courtyard, Naruto and Sasuke were starring each down. Both set their eyes on the other with neither of them budging. The scene was like any stereotypical standoff, although the only difference was that this one was enduring.

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for the other to move first. It was common knowledge that those that go first are typically easier to deal with due to their impatience when compared to patience of the other.

When one nudged slightly in place the other twitched in response, as if their body was reacting to the motion to prepare for whatever might come of it. Naruto had been doing it with slight aggression. He would twitch slightly and cause Sasuke to flinch, as though to get a response from him, when he found that Sasuke was beginning to do the same to him it became annoying.

Mentally reading himself, Naruto opened and closed his palms, preparing for what he was going to do. Sasuke, noticing it, raised his arms forward slightly, including shifting his feet slightly as to help him transition into whatever he needed to do.

Naruto shifting his body slowly eyed Sasuke's posture and knew what he wanted to do. With everything ready Naruto dashed forward towards Sasuke, his arms pulled back as to increase his speed. Sasuke shifting into a stance, attempted to swipe at Naruto's feet. Instead Naruto leaped forward, rolled in the air and brought his foot down towards Sasuke. Quick on his feet, Sasuke managed to dodge Naruto's attack. When Naruto's foot contacted the ground, it implanted itself into it and made some evident cracks in the ground around it.

Using the new footing, Naruto sprang himself from his position by pushing off his planted foot, sending himself directly at Sasuke. Bringing his arm outward, Naruto grabbed Sasuke with it, much like a lariat, and flung him back.

Sliding across the ground on his back, Sasuke cringed slightly in pain as he felt pain emanating from his chest where Naruto had grabbed him at. Looking up, he saw that Naruto was charging at him, so thinking fast he rolled away from a kick that was meant to strike him in his side and rolled up onto his feet.

Once back up Sasuke dashed over at Naruto, and after weaving pass Naruto's right arm he punched Naruto in his side. With his momentum carrying him Naruto was unable to counter, so Sasuke took advantage of the situation and brought his left leg up and struck Naruto with it behind his right knee, forcing Naruto onto the ground.

With Naruto now on the ground Sasuke attempted to get an upper hand on his opponent by striking Naruto, just as he attempted to do before to him. Bringing himself over towards Naruto, Sasuke noticed that Naruto was about to get back up and quickly changed his footing and attempted to swipe Naruto in right arm, as to keep him from pushing himself up and to make the arm less of a problem, it was a foolish choice.

Naruto had used the feint to his advantage and grabbed Sasuke's leg. Folding his arm around the appendage, Naruto lifted Sasuke in the air and brought him back down onto the ground back first. The blow seemed to have knocked the wind out of his as Sasuke faltered in place. Pulling Sasuke towards him, Naruto delivered a swift kick into his side sending Sasuke rolling in the dirt.

Stopping in place close to one of the walls of the academy, Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who stopped in place. Sasuke attempted to push himself up, but found that his side was in great pain forcing him back down onto the ground where he clutched his aching side.

Seeing that Sasuke couldn't get up, Naruto began to relax his body, while also letting out a breath of relief. Having kicked Sasuke across the courtyard, Naruto knew that unless Sasuke had high pain tolerance for his age, then he wouldn't be able to get back up to continue the fight.

"I think that's enough to prove to you that me claiming Rookie of the Year wasn't from favoritism or bias pretenses." Naruto mentioned over to Sasuke. Looking himself over, Naruto began to dust the dirt off his clothes before making his way over to Sasuke. "Now then, let me be clear and say that— "

Naruto stopped halfway through his sentence when he suddenly felt a great throbbing pain erupting from his head. It caused him to falter in place. He reached up his both his hands where he clutched the pain stricken area.

The pain intensified as if it wasn't already a problem. Getting down onto one knee, Naruto's pained expression became quite clear to Sasuke who noticed it, but was still dealing with his own. Trying to recall if he had struck Naruto in the head at all, Sasuke noted that he didn't and was wondering what was up with the blonde.

Slowly Naruto began to witness something before his eyes. As though it was a scene playing out before his eyes. There within his mental view Naruto saw a strange figure running through trees, they were silhouetted, but he could make out a distinct feature not belonging to them.

In one of their arms was something of a distinct color, crimson red. As he pushed through the pain Naruto's focus became clear as the picture cleared up, and with it no longer fuzzy Naruto's blood began to boil. In the arms of the unknown individual was a girl with crimson red hair. The picture began to disappear from his mind, and with it the pain retreated as well.

Letting his hands fall to his sides, Naruto's head remained facing the ground leaving Sasuke's view limited. Noticing a slight flare of chakra being sent out of Naruto, Sasuke noticed that it continued to travel far out of his own sensory range.

'That was a sensory technique.' Sasuke thought as he wondered what it was that Naruto was even looking for. Moving his eyes around as far as his head could turn Sasuke noticed that Karin, the other Uzumaki wasn't with them. 'Is she what he's looking for?'

Turning back to look at Naruto Sasuke noticed a rising malevolent pressure begin to emerge, smothering the area. Naruto began to move, at first it was a slight fidget, but he eventually straightened himself up and as he did Sasuke saw with his own eyes something he never expected, blood lust.

Sasuke remained prone as he felt the monstrous killing intent radiating off Naruto. His breath was caught in his throat while his heart began to race. Never in his life had he felt something so full of malice, it was terrifying. What made it worse was the fact that Naruto's golden chakra began to surface, cloaking him in its girth. By overlaying him, the chakra cast an appearance that made Sasuke realize that Naruto was no mere genin, but a monster.

"Sasuke," Came Naruto's voice snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts. "I will be back later. If I'm not back in time when our new sensei arrive, inform him that Karin and I have been delayed." Not even giving Sasuke a chance to reply even though he couldn't, not with malice forcing him down, Naruto leaped away at speeds far outside of the range a genin should even be capable of.

Unable to spot Naruto anymore, Sasuke realized just how lucky he was. Naruto was actually holding back the entire time, it was the only thing that made sense, because in all their time at the academy, not once did he see Naruto run that fast. The chakra wasn't exactly new, he was there when it first emerged, but feeling it after nearly a year has passed, Sasuke could tell that it was far more destructive and indeed terrifying when compared to then.

Whatever was about to happen Sasuke had a feeling that it wasn't going to be pleasant. 'That look on his face, it was like he wanted to massacre someone violently.' Sasuke thought as he reflected on the deathly gaze. 'Should I inform someone? If so who?! I don't know where to go to get Tsunade and Jiraiya, do I inform Lord Hokage considering they are close?'

Picking himself up, Sasuke still clutched his side, it was still painful, and he feared that Naruto may have broken a rib, but nonetheless he needed to find someone, otherwise he felt that something bad would happen. Deciding to inform the closest person possible, Sasuke ran inside the academy in search of anyone.

As he did he found that Iruka was making his way out of the front doors of the academy. Hurrying towards his former sensei, Sasuke yelled for him. "Iruka-sensei!"

Looking over at Sasuke, Iruka noticed that Sasuke was clutching his side and that he was covered in dirt. "What happened Sasuke, are you okay?!" Iruka question as was worried over Sasuke's condition.

"Iruka-sensei, something is wrong with Naruto!" Sasuke started getting a surprised look from Iruka, who quickly looked over Sasuke, whom realized that the academy instructor presumed that it was the mentioned blond that did this to him.

"What is wrong with Naruto, is he the one that did this to you?!" Iruka demanded out of his former student.

"No, if anything it was me who caused my current condition, but that isn't the point! Naruto has become enraged for some reason!" Sasuke answered while also following up with what he wanted to say.

"What do you mean enraged?" Iruka didn't quite understand what he was talking about, sure Naruto had become more susceptible to becoming aggravated, but never had he heard of Naruto becoming enraged. Suddenly though, Iruka remembered a conversation that he had with the Third Hokage and Naruto's guardians. Something about the Hokage mountain and some other incident. "Sasuke, tell me everything that happened quickly!"

Sasuke, abiding to Iruka's request began to explain the situation to Iruka, starting from the classroom to the point that Naruto dashed off. Informing Sasuke to head to the academy infirmary to have the nurse check him over Iruka followed the direction that Sasuke told him that Naruto ran off in hoping to find the cause of what had angered Naruto to the point described by Sasuke.

* * *

Running after the kidnapper, Ghost pursued the person whom had Karin in his grasp. Attempting to stop the assailant Ghost disappeared and reappeared once more but once again found himself not able to lock onto the person in question. "What's the matter? Not able to get near me." Came the mocking tone of the individual. "Lord Orochimaru remembered you and your technique very well, so he came up with a way to disrupt it." Ghost "Tsking" in annoyance continued his pursuit regardless of the handicap.

This time speeding up into a shunshin, Ghost kicked the back of the person forcing to land hard on the ground and releasing Karin from his grasp. Catching Karin in his arms, Ghost landed on the ground and placed her leaning up against the base of a large tree.

"To be quite honest I don't get why you're so interested in that boy, after all he's a plague!" The person spat causing Ghost to seethe behind his mask as he turned around and faced his opponent. "I planned on taking her and using her to draw him out, but apparently you're still trying to get in my way!"

"No harm can fall upon the boy, nor the girl. This transgression will a swift death for you." Ghost stated bluntly as he pulled out a tantō and entered a stance. "All this time you dared to pursue that false hatred of yours, never seeking reason, but instead succumbing to the rumors and lies created by the actual perpetrators, Mizuki."

Mizuki starring back at Ghost scowled in response to Ghost's words as he pulled out two kunai, one for each hand. "Don't think that I'm afraid of you. You're just a shadow, and shadows can be easily silenced by light!" Mizuki stated as a pattern symbol began to encompass Mizuki's skin. "I've been waiting for eight years to get my revenge against that brat, and you're not going to keep interfering!"

Charging at Ghost, Mizuki attempted to slice at him with one of the kunai in his hands. Ghost striding to the left evaded the attack and brought his sword over for a horizontal strike towards Mizuki's side.

Seeing the blade coming, Mizuki brought up his right hand and countered the blade with the kunai in his hand igniting the forest they were in with sounds of metal clashing. "To think you would stoop so low as to league yourself with Orochimaru." Ghost mentioned before dodging an attack and kneeing Mizuki in the gut, sending him flying into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Pushing himself up from the trunk, Mizuki began to ready himself as the marks on him expanded further. "He just made a deal that I couldn't refuse." Mizuki admitted as he pulled out a scroll. Activating the contents within a sealing pattern of sorts appeared on the ground around them, expanding for a quite a bit outside the immediate area they were at. "Now then, with this your powers are obsolete."

Finding it hard to utilize his techniques, Ghost noticed that not only was he unable to perform much of his prowess, but also a sense of weakness was beginning to overtake him. "What is this thing?" Ghost questioned aloud, getting a chuckle in response.

"A nasty sealing jutsu that Orochimaru created specifically for you." Mizuki answered as he walked over towards Ghost. "Didn't you wonder why it was that for that entire time you pursued him that you couldn't find him? That's because he learned a trick that could interfere with your jutsu, and because of that he also issued me with the task of getting rid of you."

Ghost watched as the marks began to unite causing his skin to turn into a dark-grey color. His body mass seemed to increase as his arms became bulkier and his hands became clawed. Because of the growing mass that was his body, Mizuki's clothes began to tear, primarily his upper body as his torso became toned with black stripes seemingly appearing across his back and arms. His teeth seemed to have become fangs and his hair became wild and increased in length. Ghost watched on as Mizuki became a monster before his eyes, contemplating on what his next move would have to be.

"I don't know who you are exactly, but I do at least know that you're the one responsible for allowing death to spread across the village! It's because of you that Naruto still breathes, and as such I will kill you for protecting that monster!" Mizuki roared as he raced over towards Ghost. Weakened because of the seal, Ghost had to carefully plan his actions. Deciding to maneuver around the bulking mass of Mizuki, he would use the man's size to his advantage.

Taking his tantō, Ghost slashed across Mizuki's back, eliciting a painful howl from said man, whom turned around quickly and delivered a hard kick to Ghost's chest. The attack sent Ghost flying straight into one of the trees, knocking the wind out of him. The impact onto the tree left an indent in that Ghost found himself snagged in.

Attempting to break free, Ghost didn't notice Mizuki ramming at him until it was too late. Being rammed through the tree and into another Ghost groaned out in pain slightly as he attempted to stab Mizuki while he was close enough.

Catching Ghost's hand, Mizuki seemingly snapped his wrist before flinging him into another tree, only for this time to have it where Ghost semi-ricochet off it and back in the area the fight began. "This power is amazing!" Mizuki boasted as he made his way over to Ghost, who was trying to pick himself up. "I feel as though I could kill even the Hokage!"

Bringing his foot into a kick at Ghost's side, Mizuki continued to beat the unknown protector of Naruto until something occurred. The seal that was on the ground began to slowly waver. It was as if it wasn't fully ready and as a result it ended leaving Mizuki standing there stunned. "Impossible! Lord Orochimaru told me that it would remain until he was dead!" Mizuki cried out as he was stunned at such a development. Silently at first, a chuckle began to resonate across the area.

Looking back over at Ghost, Mizuki watched as the man picked himself up from the ground, wobbling at first but eventually planting his feet firmly on the ground. "Is that so, well then, sorry to say, but, I'm already dead." Ghost mentioned surprising Mizuki as he watched the wrist that was broken just moments ago, straighten itself before Ghost began rotating his hand around the joint, showing that it was healed.

Not wanting to believe it, Mizuki began to charge at Ghost, who remained in his place. Watching as Mizuki charged forward Ghost waited for the right time to make his move. Just as Mizuki would have struck Ghost directly in the face, Ghost disappeared and Mizuki felt a great surge of pain as three tantō emerged from his body, piercing him from behind.

Surprised, Mizuki turned his head around to see that Ghost was standing behind him with his back facing him. Unable to process what had just happened, Mizuki fell to the ground. Turning around to see that Mizuki was on the ground and not responding, Ghost moved over towards Karin to determine if she was okay.

Once he got to her Ghost began looking her over and noticed a rather decently sized bump on her head, from what Ghost could tell, it was from Mizuki more than likely. Seeing as how she wasn't hurt anywhere else Ghost let out a sigh of relief before getting back up. Just as he turned around a tantō pierced his chest, pinning him to the tree. Following it were two more tantō that pierced each of his hands.

Looking over at where Mizuki was, Ghost found that the man was back up on his feet and his wounds seemingly healed. "Didn't see that coming did ya?" Mizuki mocked as he walked over to Karin and grabbed her by the head, holding her up for Ghost to see. "I can assure you that she is perfectly fine, after all she is another part of my mission for Lord Orochimaru. He is curious about her healing powers and wants to study her, afterwards she will be casted into whatever project or field of study that he wishes."

"You should tread carefully when handling her." Ghost warned Mizuki who frowned in response. "You could very well end up dead."

"Please, as if I don't already know that she holds the Kyuubi. Personally, I would've killed her myself, however, Lord Orochimaru warned me about that and as such I'm not stupid enough to warrant his wrath." Mizuki mentioned. "As for the girl, all I have to make sure is that the seal on her back doesn't come off." Turning her around for Ghost to see, there was a seal placed on her back that seemed to be suppressing the Kyuubi's chakra including her own.

"Do you really think I was referring to either of them?" Ghost stated bluntly causing Mizuki to adorn a confused look.

"What can you do, you're pinned to a tree, let alone you can move around as easily as you like when something has pierced your body." Mizuki pointed out.

"I'm not who you should be worried about," Ghost began as he gestured with his head over to the tree line behind Mizuki. "It's him you have to worry about."

Turning around to see who Ghost was talking about, Mizuki's eyes flashed with hatred as Naruto stood before him at the edge of the tree line. " _Naruto_." Mizuki hissed as he faced said blonde while still holding Karin up in the air with his right arm. "Have you come to grant your sensei's wish?"

Naruto remained quiet and prone as Mizuki couldn't help but chuckle darkly as he was reading himself for what he was planning on doing. "Look at what I got Naruto, the whore whom you care about so deeply." Mizuki taunted while shaking Karin's unconscious form in his hand. "Such a good student, it's a shame she decided to become acquainted with you, because then she wouldn't have the scars that will have after I'm done with her."

Taking one of his claws from his left hand, Mizuki began to cut Karin's left cheek causing blood to trickle down her face. "I plan on making her suffer just like you did to Tsubaki eight years ago _boy_ , and then I'll throw her to Lord Orochimaru who'll-" Mizuki became silent as a sudden surge of pain screamed across his body.

Feeling the loss of weight from his right side, Mizuki grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand as he screamed out in pain upon registering that his right arm had been torn off.

Naruto stood away from Mizuki, tossing aside the dismembered limb and holding Karin with his spare arm. Noticing the seal on her back Naruto tore it off and tossed it to the side, and upon doing so he noticed the cut on her cheek slowly began to recede.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Mizuki roared out at Naruto. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Before Mizuki could start running at Naruto a sudden force forced him to stop in place as he was smothered in malice. It radiated from Naruto much like warmth from a flame, but this was cold and laced with blood lust.

Mizuki watched as Naruto placed Karin down on the ground careful as to not disturb her. Getting up onto his feet, Naruto continued to stare down at the unconscious form of his only true family member. "Do you know what you've just done?" Naruto asked Mizuki as he slowly turned to face the man. Mizuki found himself unable to answer as the killer intent intensified immensely, so much so that it seemed that the trees and other plant life became still themselves out of fear. "You harmed someone precious to me, and that is unforgivable."

Mizuki's heart began to race as he gazed into Naruto's eyes, they were terrifying. Filled to the brim with unadulterated hatred and bloodlust Mizuki felt as if he was facing a demon. This was no genin but a monster who was planning on killing him.

Feeling himself shudder in fear Mizuki failed to notice the nearby plant life dissipating into the wind as they died rapidly. The trees began to rot and the leaves disintegrated into nothingness as Naruto's golden chakra began to emerge. Ghost watched on in amazement as he watched the chakra pull from the nearby fauna and trees what he could only presume as life energy. It fed the chakra, intensifying its girth.

Naruto's rage continued to build as the chakra roared to life illuminating his body in its glow. Mizuki and Ghost watched as the mass continued to increase before them, easily towering over the dead tree line. Mizuki panicked in placed as he watched the monster before him fully reveal itself before him. The only thing that Ghost and Mizuki both agreed on at that moment was that it was no longer safe in this area as a loud bellow resonated across the landscape before a monstrous roar sounded the monster's emergence.

* * *

Several hours later, and a group of people close to Naruto were conversing in private in the Hokage's office. In attendance were Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka, and Sarutobi, all of which were unsure at what to make of this development. "Iruka, are you positive that it was Naruto that did this?" Tsunade asked the academy instructor.

"Believe me when I say Lady Tsunade that I witnessed it right before my eyes. I never could've imagined it either until I saw him return to normal." Iruka stated.

"Was he aware of everything around him during that time he was in that state?" Sarutobi asked the him, receiving a "no sir" in response. "Then this is indeed troubling. How is his current state Tsunade?"

"He is stable now, but he is suffering from severe chakra exhaustion the likes of which should've killed him if he was any other shinobi." Tsunade answered. "The fact that he's alive and recovering quickly is alarming enough as it is, but the fact still remains that he is healing as fast as Karin would be if she was in that state, and that is because of the fox."

"Tsunade you know you're not supposed to mention that!" Jiraiya scolded his old teammate. "We aren't sure if Orochimaru has more spies or if someone will hear us!"

"Do not worry about that Jiraiya, I have suppression seal around the office active that will ensure only those inside it can hear our conversations." Sarutobi assured his former pupil. Jiraiya seemed to relax a little upon learning that information, but the topic was still pressing enough to keep him riled up. "Now then Iruka, you said you saw someone else there?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage, he was a cloaked individual, someone I didn't recognize, although I could only presume that based off some of the rumors that he is the one that is watching over Naruto?" Sarutobi nodded his head before opening the confines of a folder on his desk.

"Iruka I want you to know that he's existence is part of the utmost secrecy, and you are now a part of select group of people that know he is real." Sarutobi mentioned while getting a nervous response from Iruka. "For now, all you'll need to know is that he is referred to as Ghost, and that he overlooks Naruto's safety from a distance, he's been watching over him ever since Naruto could walk on his own. He was there when Mizuki's fiancé Tsubaki was killed by a rouge group of shinobi attacked their home not long after Naruto was originally adopted by the couple."

Iruka was stunned by the news, it was something he never even considered by the way Mizuki always acted. "Mizuki believed that Naruto was the source because the rouge shinobi were originally from Iwa, and had heard that the son of the Fourth Hokage was still alive, you can tell what became of the whole situation." Sarutobi left the last bit open for Iruka to fill in the gaps. "Needless to say, from that point onwards Ghost remained ever watchful of Naruto, not only because of his father's enemies, but also from internal issues with Konoha as it was a dark time following the reconstruction after the Kyuubi attack, and this was before Jiraiya and Tsunade decided to watch over him mind you."

"So, wait, I thought that Naruto lived at an orphanage until Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade came back?" Iruka question since Sarutobi was willing to share information with him.

"It was a dark time for Naruto back then, at one point we lost contact with him and all other sightings of him for nearly two years. During that time, I had sent word for Jiraiya to return as quickly as possible once he found Tsunade, but that wouldn't happen until Naruto was around seven years old." The explanation was rather bleak as Iruka couldn't fathom what it was like for Naruto during that time. "During that entire time Ghost interacted and helped Naruto, raising him the best he can, but limited as Ghost was also dealing with problems that existed around Naruto as well. Eventually Naruto was delivered to one of his father's students, Rin Nohara, who treated him immediately, and from there on he was taken care off by her until Jiraiya returned with Tsunade.

Iruka remained quiet as he reflected on the information, recalling all the times Naruto acted up or goofed off during class. Looking back at it he felt empathy towards Naruto, as he realized how much they truly had in common.

"Now then Iruka, you must not reveal any of this information to anyone, you understand that." Sarutobi mentioned to the academy instructor, who nodded in understanding. "Very well then you may leave, I must continue talking with Jiraiya and Tsunade in private." With that Iruka made his way out of the office leaving the group alone to continue the conversation.

"Sensei, why did you release that much information to Iruka?" Jiraiya asked his former teacher.

Sarutobi took a whiff of his pipe as to calm his aching nerves. "It's because it will do them both good." He responded, referring to Naruto and Iruka when he meant them. "Now they can properly relate as compared to before." Leaving it like that Sarutobi looked over the file in his hands carefully before sighing. "So much time has gone by and the deadline is approaching."

"How much longer do we have?" Tsunade asked.

"Perhaps a little over a year before they arrive, maybe a little longer than that." Sarutobi answered as he took the black folder in front of him and placed the red binding back over it. "Since I have informed you of the situation, you must know what I'm about to say to you regarding this matter."

"Sensei, we don't even know if that was his own power or not, if it is we have no idea of how he could master it!" Tsunade pointed out. "And even if he had that power at his disposal what makes you think that there won't be consequences?!"

"That's why I asked _him_ to show up." Sarutobi mentioned as a shadowy figure appeared between Tsunade and Jiraiya startling them. "Ghost, explain the situation to me, do not keep even a single amount of details out of it either."

"Very Lord Hokage, but I must first mention that if you plan on using Naruto for something, then you do realize the conflict that could become apparent between us." Ghost mentioned getting a nod from Sarutobi signaling the understanding of Ghost's position. "Very well, then I'll start at the beginning."

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **Going into this chapter I completely forgot how large it truly was. In word alone the main content was easily twenty-four pages. I can only imagine how long this chapter alone would take to edit completely. I have a headache just thinking about it, ugh…**

 **Anyway, the following blurb is a detailed explanation I gave previously for this chapter.**

 **Now I know some you will question why the fight with Sasuke was so short, and so I'll take this time to answer it. Basically, they're fresh out of the academy and as such they aren't as skilled as they would be like say at the Valley of the End or in Shippuden, so yeah, that's why it was mainly punching and kicking. Plus, as a part of some bonus information, Naruto beat Sasuke because his taijutsu points were incredibly high, another reason why he won against Sasuke during their fight. And their fight was something that I planned on anyway as it's to show off some of Sasuke's character and just what we'd expect from him. I do plan on expanding his character though so just give me some time with that regard.**

 **Moving on to the whole issue around Mizuki, I do hope that you understand that it was meant to expand more into Naruto's past, and conclude somethings that were left open to this point. If it felt like an info dump, I am sorry about that, I did struggle a part during this because I had thought of many angles that I could have gone about doing this chapter in general, but I went with this as to answer some questions and reveal info, sorry.**

 **Now the whole kidnapping of Karin, it was intended to blindside you guys intentionally as that was the whole point of it. It was to make you experience what she did. Yeah Ghost was watching but Orochimaru had given Mizuki a way to deal with him, but he did pursue Mizuki so it's not like he was slacking or anything. (In regards to what Mizuki did I will state that the seal was a result of a previous encounter between Ghost and Orochimaru.)**

 **Lastly, I can already see this becoming an issue, where the hell was Kakashi?! Well probably doing whatever he was doing in cannon around that time, so yeah that answers that, but I will state that I did originally plan on him showing up in the end, although like in other chapters I decided to push him back into next chapter which will be Team Seven centric and start its development.**

 **Alright I'm done with this chapter. I have one more chapter that needs to be posted tonight and then I'll be straight. Chapter Nine will be coming out this Saturday. I'm stating this just to let everyone know. I'm going to take my time and ensure that everything will be well with it. That will be it from me. Take it easy everyone, and PEACE!**


	8. Uncertainty Before the Trials

**FINALLY! I have made it to Chapter 8! Oh, the humanity! Wait, oh, uh… I forgot that this was being typed. Give me one second.**

 **Hello there everyone, Shin Aedra here with chapter 8, the last chapter that needed to be transferred. I just want to state that originally this chapter was a debatable one. I didn't know how far I'd get, but I at least pushed us through the basic start of Naruto. Following this is the start of the Land of Waves and for the most part it'll follow cannon. However, later events will occur differently. This chapter though will follow a difference in perspective. The first being Kakashi's and the latter being team seven's.**

 **Disclaimer: The following is a fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Uncertainty Before the Trials...

The morning was crisp as the cool wind blew across the village, with it the coming scent of Summer on the front. The traffic in and out of Konoha Hospital was nothing short of nonexistent as only the staff completing their rounds were seen moving amongst its many halls. Every patient was checked over as they continued to sleep through the early morning hours, although the nurses did greet the few patients that were usually early birds and for those few that had resided at the hospital long enough from said group, the nurses would make sure to walk in with the early morning paper for them to read.

Nothing was out of the ordinary for the most part, but ever since the night before an entire wing was left empty, minus the Anbu guards that hid amongst its shadows. Only high-level staff members, and any individual given the authority to cross into that wing, could enter.

Two pairs of footsteps echoed amongst one of the empty hallways as two figures were seen walking through the empty wing. One was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the other was tall man with gravity defying grey tinted white hair. He wore a Konoha Shinobi flak jacket and wore a mask that went up to his nose with his Konoha headband going diagonally across his face to cover his left eye. His name was Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang, former Anbu, the great Copycat Kakashi, and now Jonin sensei of Team Seven.

The two were walking through the hallway they were in, each time passing another concealed Anbu guard stationed there by Sarutobi himself. "This sure is a lot of security Lord Hokage," Kakashi stated as his lone eye distinguished another concealed Anbu hidden amongst the shadows between the windows that lined the left side of the hall. "I'm wondering if I should be concerned over the fact that two of my students are being kept in an isolated wing away from the other patients."

"A necessary procedure considering the problems that have occurred as the night progressed." Sarutobi mentioned as they turned down into another hallway. "I was hoping that as the night went on that the situation would lighten, but the truth is that is far from the case."

Looking back over his shoulder, Kakashi watched as the fourteen Anbu that lined both sides of the hallway were watching him intently, even though they knew both him, and knew of why he was with the Hokage. "Still, to recall and have nearly half of the entire Anbu Corp surround this one wing, such a thing is not normally your style Lord Hokage." Kakashi mentioned.

"When one is faced with a situation like we are, I, the Hokage of this village must oversee the safety and preservation of this village, as such I have chosen to have this many Anbu guarding this wing." The vague response of the Hokage left Kakashi questioning more of this supposed "situation" that Sarutobi was talking about.

He wasn't informed of any situation that involves his new students, nor was any detail over the arrangements of their current conditions divulged towards him in the slightest. "Lord Hokage, if such a situation did exist, why not inform the rest of the jonin and chunin?" Kakashi asked as noticed the grim look that adorned his leader's face.

"I'm afraid that it would only bolster a negative response from the rest of the shinobi, and the information that is being kept here will remain within these walls, so long as I can help it." Kakashi looked on at his Hokage with both wonder and dread. He was aware that Karin had the Kyuubi within her, which it alone might be the reason as to why everything is happening in the first place, but if that was the case why is it that Naruto is also in this wing?

"There are many reasons why you weren't informed in the beginning of the situation Kakashi, but you'll find that it is not just the Anbu that are guarding this wing either." Sarutobi added as Kakashi saw blank white masks upon the hidden Root shinobi that now lined the new hallway they turned onto, but that wasn't all, standing a mere ten feet away from them was Danzo Shimura, the orchestrator of Root himself. "Danzo." Kakashi mouthed with venom.

"Hmph, late as ever Hatake, be glad you're no longer in Root, otherwise such behavior would lead to severe reparations." Danzo pointed out, before looking over at Sarutobi, whose look was enough to stop him from anything else. "Of course, I'm not here to bring up the past."

"Danzo, have they established a new connection yet?" Sarutobi asked his former teammate with the authoritative directive of a leader quite evident in his voice.

"The main power supply that connects to the entire hospital has been overridden, and now this wing is connected to the spare generators and reservoirs that reside several feet below ground." Danzo answered.

"Have there been any power shortages since I've been gone?" Sarutobi asked.

"Hmph, none less than the usual, that brat has fried nearly all the wiring in corridor leading to his room, let alone the rooms above and below his." Danzo specified as he turned to lead the duo deeper into the wing. "It seems that the intensity of the discharges spikes every fifteen minutes or so, rather nasty, some of our Anbu and Root placed in that room have suffered from severe burning and scarring to their sensory neurons and semi paralysis in struck limbs."

"What of the semiconductors setup to transfer the electricity released from each spike?" Danzo didn't even gesture a response, which meant that it wasn't anything that Sarutobi wanted to hear.

"At most it spared the analysis equipment from getting struck in the initial usage, but they themselves were eventually fried to melting point within a matter of minutes." Danzo explained. "Not only that but we've had to disconnect and reconnect to the spare generators and reservoir nodes below just to keep everything from overloading."

A low grumble emanated from Sarutobi, it was clear that the news was frustrating to him, and yet Kakashi remained silent as he tried to piece together what it was that was happening. 'Danzo mentioned 'he' in his wording, so it's not Karin, but what could possibly be taking place that would involve Naruto?' Kakashi wondered as the lights above their heads began flicker and the hall shook from an unknown force.

"What was that?!" Kakashi questioned aloud. No one paid any attention to him though as the Third Hokage sped up his pace to another intersection and upon reaching it turned right just as another shake occurred. Quickly keeping pace with Sarutobi, Kakashi followed the Hokage to a set of double doors that were marked with "Emergency Surgery" on them.

Upon entering them Kakashi was met with the sight of several Anbu and Root shinobi being treated for burns, scarring and other ailments that he was uncertain of. Following Sarutobi through two more pairs of doors Kakashi's lone eye widened in shock as he watched golden electricity spew out from an unknown source striking out at anything it could touch.

Quick to duck his head, Kakashi managed to avoid being electrocuted by a large bolt of electricity. Many hospital staff and shinobi lined the circular room, each of them taking cover or ensuring that specific equipment wasn't fried during the surging. Upon further examination Kakashi determined that they were in an examination room that was used for students to watch doctors conduct surgery, of course this seemed to far from surgery.

"Where is Tsunade!" Sarutobi roared across the room. Much of the staff inside took notice of the Hokage and one was quick to approach him.

"Lord Hokage, she is currently in the middle of tending to the girl, her condition was worsening and she decided to move quickly to stabilize her." The staff informed him.

Turing to face Danzo, Kakashi saw what was pure rage on the Third's face. "Why didn't you inform me that the girl was in critical condition?!" The Third roared out in anger.

"It would have been a distraction compared to our main problem Sarutobi!" Danzo yelled back as they both moved out of the way of a stray bolt. "The girl has been receiving treatment for about twenty minutes now, if you have such little faith in your own student's capabilities then why did you make her the head of this hospital?!"

Sarutobi remained quiet as the room around was still in the middle of dealing with the apparent crisis behind him. "Mark my words Danzo, should you keep anything away from me again I will insure it myself that you meet an early "retirement"." Sarutobi's words seemed to have resonated within Danzo as he bowed before his Hokage as a sign of understanding.

"Yes, Lord Hokage, I understand my mistake and it will not happen again." Danzo acknowledged begrudgingly.

Kakashi was still in the backburner at this point, he had no idea as to why he was called in here, minus the fact that he's here to supposedly learn his team's condition, primarily involving Naruto and Karin. "So, why exactly am I here Lord Hokage, surely the information of my team was not enough to garnet my being in having to be present to this scene?" Kakashi asked his leader who turned back towards the seasoned Jonin with serious eyes that had relaxed slightly since his scorn of Danzo.

"Right you are Kakashi, we need your Lightning affinity to assist in manually removing the lightning chakra out of Naruto and into a direct path to the ground as to establish a safe path for the chakra to discharge without too many issues occurring." Sarutobi explained. Kakashi just starred at the Third Hokage as though he was crazy, but that quickly changed as he soon realized that Naruto was the one spewing the golden electricity. "Kakashi, the only way that Naruto is going to safely discharge the energy out of his body is if we can create said path, otherwise his power will continue to scale off wildly and that could lead to some drastic circumstances that I'd rather like to avoid."

"First off, you never told me that Naruto was the one who was releasing all that chakra, why didn't you inform me earlier?!" Kakashi demanded. Sarutobi looked at Kakashi squarely directly in the eye, they were hard, and yet saddened.

"Naruto's condition is to remain secret Kakashi, I cannot explain everything at this moment, but I must ask you to please assist in helping Naruto, and then afterwards I will explain everything." Kakashi just looked on at his leader before returning his gaze to the source of the electricity, he could just barely make out Naruto's body as a faint outline in the bright energy, but even still he couldn't imagine the pain that he might be in.

"Lord Third, if I were to pull out Naruto's chakra wouldn't there be a chance that the regulated chakra I would assist in diverting would pull to much from his chakra reserves leading to chakra deficiency?" Concern was quite evident in Kakashi's voice, but Sarutobi remained firm in his decision.

"Kakashi, for his own good this needs to happen," Sarutobi mentioned to the former Anbu captain. "and in the end, it will save lives." Kakashi swore that the Hokage was eluding to something with the way he spoke his last few words, but to what end he did not understand.

Sighing, Kakashi turned and made his way over towards Naruto. "Lord Third, is there any specific way you want me to go about in diverting his chakra?" Kakashi asked. Receiving a nod Sarutobi had a couple of the Anbu in the room make their way over to Kakashi with large cables in their hands.

"Kakashi, those are specially created cables that the research division have been working on to direct mass amounts of chakra, you are going to use those cables to direct all of the discharging chakra into the ground, from there we let nature take its course." Sarutobi explained.

Pausing for a moment Kakashi let the information process in his mind before he grabbed the cables with his left hand. Looking back at Naruto, Kakashi slowly began making his way towards his newest pupil, his right hand elongated forward as he surrounded his arm in lighting chakra. Within a matter of moments Kakashi's world lite up, quite literally, and the outcome was not to his expectations.

* * *

Yawning aloud, tired blazing red eyes starred boringly up at the clouds. Curiosity crept into the owner's mind as to how anyone could possibly be fond of the floating puffs of white in the sky, they did find the scenery to be soothing though. With the wind blowing through the viewer's golden blonde hair a sense of serenity fell upon them. Closing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath in, allowing his senses to acknowledge the crisp arrival of Summer now around the corner.

Opening his eyes once more he took a glimpse towards his left and saw both Karin and Sasuke sitting on the same step as him. The three of them were finally together again after some unspecified time, to Naruto it felt as though it had been only a day, but unknowingly time had certainly passed since the last time they were all together.

The reason behind them being at their current location together was not because they wanted to meet up, but because today they were finally going to meet their Jonin sensei after some time due to an unknown incident that kept him from overseeing their development.

With a shunshin a new figure appeared before the three genin. Kakashi Hatake, the renowned Copycat, whose tendencies stain what would be a pristine image of success and skill. Naruto noted that both of Kakashi's hands were bandaged from his finger tips to some point under his sleeves, which was what he presumed was the reason he had to delay the team from officially meeting prior.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted his new team. All of them starred at him blankly, as if he was bland, to which he just ignored and continued. "I'm your new sensei, Kakashi Hatake, and from now on we will be known as Team 7." Still the unnerving silence and blank stares continued. 'I wonder what has them retaining the same expressions?' He thought to himself before he began to think over everything about his entrance.

"Sensei," Came a voice. Kakashi looked over at the source, it was Karin, the only girl on the team, and one of a handful survivors of the Uzumaki clan. "You do realize that it's been exactly three hours since the specified time that you chose for us to meet, right?"

Realizing why his students were acting the way they were Kakashi just gave them an eye smile as he rubbed the back of his head with his right arm. "Ah, forgive for showing up late but I had to stop by at the hospital for a treatment to assist in healing my arms earlier this morning and it took a little longer than I hoped." Kakashi admitted with a sheepish tone receiving signs of quick acknowledgement and regret upon the faces of his students. 'They probably expected my tendencies to be the cause of me being late, but it's not entire false either considering I was late to my appointment this morning, that I can blame on that medication that Tsunade gave me.'

With a better grasp on the situation the three straightened themselves up and awaited instruction from their new sensei, something that Kakashi couldn't help but muse over in his mind. "As I was saying, we are now a part of the newly formed Team Seven, and as such I think that we should take this time to get to know each other a little better." Kakashi began as he saw an exchange of looks between the three take place. "Of course, what I mean is that we should introduce ourselves appropriately so that each member of the team understands each other. To do this we'll go through a simple introduction, we'll explain our hobbies, dreams, ambitions and things along those lines."

"Would you mine going first sensei, just to start things off, after all we don't know anything about you either." Karin asked, receiving a blank stare in response even though she could tell that Kakashi was contemplating on something.

"Well my name is Kakashi Hatake like I stated earlier, as for what I like, well that is a secret, same for what I dislike. I have no ambitions and my dreams are none of your business." Kakashi introduced himself before taking a quick pause and then continue. "Also, I have multiple hobbies."

All three of the genin stared up at their sensei with annoyance, all they had really learned about their new sensei was his name, and that had already been told to them prior to this meeting. "All he said was his name." Naruto muttered under his breath to the other two who were equally as annoyed as he was.

"I was warned that we wouldn't get anything from him at first." Sasuke added in the same hushed tone as Naruto, just barely under a whisper.

"Who told you that?" Naruto asked.

"My brother." Sasuke answered.

"Who was your brother again?" Karin asked Sasuke.

Sasuke was rather reluctant at first after hearing the question, but he decided to just get it over with. "Itachi, Itachi Uchiha, he's in the Anbu." Sasuke answered with great reluctance, which was rather obvious to everyone listening.

"Hey, I know your brother." Naruto pointed out, which caused a scowl to form on his face. "He's pretty cool, but he's too serious, please don't act like him." This surprised Sasuke, even though he tried not to show it, but anyone could tell that he was surprised by Naruto's words.

"Alright, alright ring it back in genin we still have introductions to get over with." Kakashi spoke up, regaining their attention. "Well since you two seem so eager to speak I start with you, blonde." Naruto instantly directed an annoyed stare towards Kakashi. "Well, we're waiting."

With an annoyed sigh Naruto turned slight so that everyone could hear him clearly. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like watering plants, hanging out with friends, and I hate many things that are rather to boring to go over, well rather they're just annoying ticks really." Naruto explained as he took a moment to consider his wording for what he was about to say next, gaining some curiosity as to what his ambition or dream was. "My goal is to one day become Hokage, not just so that I can be myself, but also to assist those who've suffered and create a system that allows true equality across the board, regardless of status."

To Kakashi the last part was unexpected. He had heard from Itachi and a few others that Naruto was dealing with some issues, but ever since Karin showed up he has been settling on a plan that he wants to succeed. Upon realizing that he left something out Naruto quickly spoke back up as to ensure that his final goal was brought back up. "My final goal in life, if possible, is to rekindle the fame of the Uzumaki clan, even if it's only a little bit, I'd wish to leave a mark in history to which when people look back they would see my clan and its morals, of course so long as I can make the rest work I suppose."

"Interesting goals Naruto, I'm sure that you'll make your clan proud," Kakashi began, causing Naruto to brighten up his expression with a smirk. "of course, that's if you don't fail as a shinobi first." The deadpan expression that adorned Naruto's face was quickly replaced by rage as he jumped to his feet screaming at the top of his lungs. Had it not been for Karin calmly placing her hand on his shoulder and tightening her grip ever so tightly as to gain his attention, Naruto would have continued swearing up a storm, instead he stopped immediately, and without a word plopped down into his seat with a look of panic evident on his face. Meanwhile, Karin was smiling all the same, unnerving the other two male individuals in the immediate area, whom after watching the display didn't feel quite as comfortable as before upon seeing the entire scene play out.

'The way she just handled Naruto, without even speaking a word, I haven't seen something like this since Minato-Sensei and Kushina-san were still around.' Kakashi thought to himself. Quickly finding a way as to move along and forget what just happened, Kakashi directed his view over towards Sasuke and spoke up. "Alright your next." Was all he said, catching Sasuke out of his stupor, forcing him to pause for a second to acknowledge what had just been said to him before deciding on what to say.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I prefer eating tomatoes over many other things, and…" Sasuke paused as he stared at the ground for a couple of seconds as scowl returned. "and I despise someone very much. As for my dreams, I currently don't have any because I haven't thought that far ahead, aside the fact that I'll become a great shinobi."

"Hmm, dreams will come and go, although in your case you haven't thought of one yet, but your still young so there is plenty of time, worst case scenario is that you get bored of being a shinobi and are stuck with a skill set late in life that won't help you in any other career you could try and peruse afterwards." Kakashi stated, which caused a slight twitch to begin with Sasuke's left brow.

With two out of the three done, Kakashi then directed his attention on Karin, whom stared back at him with an awaiting expression that seemed to be revealing of her waiting on him to speak up. "Do I have to point it out?" Kakashi asked before Karin just glared at him before clearing her throat.

"My name is Karin Uzumaki, I enjoy reading and I dislike gyoza. My plans for the future are more loose rather than set, but basically I'm considering taking up a field in Medicine, perhaps one day I might consider being a combat medic, if not then I plan on increasing my knowledge of my clan to pass a set of collected information to my descendants of what our clan was like." Karin explained to the rest of the group.

'I wonder if by chance the first part of her "loose goals" was directly related to the incident that occurred last week, but then again neither of them should be able to remember it anyway.' Kakashi reflected as he looked on at his team before him. To Kakashi it almost reminded him of his own team back when he was under the tutelage of the before Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Not one to dwell on the past however, Kakashi pushed aside his current thoughts and redirected his attention towards his team. "Alright then, I believe we now understand everyone on the team, as such I will now inform you that formal training begins tomorrow morning." Kakashi announced.

"Heh, now we're talking." Naruto smirked as his excitement began to show. Kakashi noted it, including the smirks on the other two upon hearing the same thing.

'Hmm, eager aren't they.' Kakashi mused to himself before allowing a slight chuckle escape from his lips. The genin looked at their sensei in confusion, only for Kakashi to eye smile at them. "Well your very eager, I'll give you that, however, what we will be conducting in will determine if you'll even become shinobi." Kakashi let the information flow through their minds before continuing. "The following exercise we'll be conducting has a sixty-six percent chance of failure, and if you fail you'll be sent right back to the academy for more training."

Suddenly the genin of Team Seven found themselves losing them composure upon learning the truth of the exercise, and to them it was obviously nerve-wracking. Kakashi though just looked on at the team, and with a short laugh he reeled them back. "You're not scared, are you? If you're having this much doubt already then you might as well say you've failed and just go back to the academy."

"What the hell!" Naruto roared in frustration as he stood back up onto his feet. "We've already gone through the graduation exam, so why do we have to go through another test just to see if we'll become shinobi all over again?!"

"Simple," Kakashi began as he hardened his expression. "We want to eliminate all the hopeless cases from your ranks. Those that remain are the ones that will have promise as a shinobi." Naruto was still ambient on expressing his discontent over the matter but Kakashi just shunshined in front of him and flicked him down back onto the step he was sitting on previously. "In any event, we'll meet early tomorrow morning at Training Field Seven for the exercise, so be sure to bring whatever equipment you'll need and don't eat breakfast, unless your keen on loosing directly afterward."

With that Kakashi gave each of them enough information about the exercise for them to do with as they pleased before adjourning the team meeting and leaving. The remaining members of Team Seven simply exchanged looks before getting up to leave.

"Do you think he was serious about if we fail then we'll be sent right back to the academy?" Karin asked Naruto for his opinion.

"That cyclops, he's just saying that stuff to mess with us, there is no way that a team of genin could fail a simple exercise and be sent right back to the academy, it's stupid!" Naruto replied as he reflected on Kakashi's words in his head.

"What about you Sasuke? Your brother graduated from the academy and made it onto a team, what did he say about the experience?" Karin asked Sasuke, only for his typical scowling nature to return.

"Nothing really, then again he's a prodigy, so he's never had to worry about anything before." Sasuke admitted, although the way he spoke it almost sounded as if there was slight enmity in his voice. "Aside from that I don't think that his information would be any help to us."

"Why's that?" Karin asked.

"Because consider this, if he went through a similar circumstance it must have changed since the last time he experienced the exercise, and in a village of shinobi, it's obvious that they would change the procedure constantly as to ensure that the next graduating class wouldn't be given an advantage right out of the gate." Sasuke's information made sense to Karin, it would explain as to why there is a natural sixty- six percent rate of failure.

"Who cares about all that!" Naruto interceded as he crumbled up the piece of paper that Kakashi gave him that contained the information of the exercise, or rather what little he decided to share. "If it comes down to it we'll just have to make do with whatever we have tomorrow and do our best."

"It won't just come down to equipment, there is no way for us to know what exactly is required in this exercise, whether it be skill based or teamwork is uncertain." Karin added before stopping in place as she pondered on the topic. "Naruto, you've had interactions with Kakashi in the past right?"

Naruto and Sasuke both stopped, while the former thought back on his past experiences with their new sensei. "Only a couple encounters, he was originally an Anbu captain as I recall, so his visits were certainly limited, he did take me to Rin nee-chan when I had no one that could take me and I also recall that he watched me when I was younger as well." Naruto thought back as he explained to the other two.

"Why would he do that, he was an Anbu captain with no affiliation to you in terms of relation." Sasuke pointed out.

"Well from what I was told, him and Rin nee-chan were my dad's students back during the Third Shinobi World War, and my dad was like a father figure to him because his dad died earlier in his life." Naruto explained receiving a different expression on Sasuke's face than previously seen before, it was almost as if it showed empathy, but Naruto played it off as nothing.

"Well if he was your father's student, and he viewed him with admiration then perhaps he adopted a similar test that was used by your father when he became genin." Karin suggested.

"That might be the case but didn't you agree that the reason behind the high failure rate was because of the constant change of the tests across the classes?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, but consider this if you will, you have an opportunity to teach the child of your mentor, feelings of nostalgia would indeed surface from the experience, so what I'm suggesting is that for the entire experience to come full circle wouldn't it be appropriate for you to use the very same testing method on that child that was used on you as well?" Sasuke looked at Karin in surprise, her words made perfect sense to him, in fact it almost seemed as though she figured out the entire situation they would be entering.

"Then if that is the case we just need to find out how the Fourth Hokage tested his team, then by doing so we will have the advantage in the exercise." Sasuke concluded. Both him and Karin were already figuring out the plan that would assist the team while Naruto just looked back and forth at each of them.

Thinking on their words Naruto began to process a way for them to find out how they could get the information on his father. He didn't know his father, only his legacy, as such he wouldn't know what exactly the test was, so he began to think of those who would know. 'Rin nee-chan wouldn't help as she would just inform the cyclops and I'm pretty sure that my dad didn't teach anyone else so that leaves out anyone else that could in their generation.' Naruto began compiling a list of people in his head that could help.

"Naruto, I take it that you're already compiling a list?" Karin asked, the only response she got was silence as Naruto closed his eyes to think more on the subject. "Perhaps another way we could look at it, who taught your father?"

"Wasn't that Jiraiya of the Sannin?" Sasuke asked resulting in Naruto opening his eyes and a look that confirmed his thoughts.

"That's right the old pervert did teach my dad, but I don't think he is in the village." Naruto mentioned causing the other two to sigh. "But, I do know who taught him, and we still have one of his teammates in the village that we could ask." The other two shared a look and realized who it was Naruto was referring to.

"Are you certain that the same test would be passed down by each of the students though?" Sasuke wanted to make sure that everything was absolute before they were going into the hypothetical.

"Well consider that the Third Hokage was taught by the First and Second Hokage directly, then following that he taught the Sannin, and one of the sannin taught my dad, who then taught Kakashi-sensei's team in the past." Naruto mentioned. "Think about it, this test might be something that was passed down from the very beginning of the village's history."

"But are we certain that is the case?" Sasuke wanted to have more information to work with, Naruto understood that but he just had that gut feeling that he was right.

"So, are you sure that Jiraiya isn't in the village, because if we should confront Tsunade and the Third Hokage just to get the information this will take a considerable amount of time and effort to be put in considering that one: The Third Hokage will instantly realize what we are attempting if we're not careful, and two: Tsunade more than likely knows who it is we're learning over." Karin added causing the other two to think back on their options.

"Okay, so say the information has already been passed down the grapevine, there is obviously a way for us to learn of the test." Sasuke pondered aloud. "Naruto, how long has Jiraiya been gone?"

"About a week, maybe two weeks why?" Naruto wondered why Sasuke wanted to know, the only thing he could guess was to try and establish a time table of some kind as to determine when Jiraiya would be back.

Sasuke thought hard on the subject before asking another question. "How long is he typically away?"

"Typically, it varies depending on the assignment and the information he's supposed to gather, although Kami only knows if he delays his arrival by partaking in his vices." Karin answered. This gave credence to Naruto's guess on Sasuke's thoughts, as he watched Sasuke enter a deep thought.

"Do either of you know of anything that could possibly give us an advantage in getting the information from the other people that might know it?" Sasuke asked Naruto and Karin. Both exchanged a look before Naruto's expression became mischievous, gaining Sasuke's attention.

"Well it just so happens that both Tsunade and the Old man have weaknesses that we can use to our advantage." Naruto chuckled before Karin placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Not the Third Hokage," Karin started calmly. "Remember what I said about that Naruto." Her grip tightened just like before causing Naruto pale.

"No problem Karin, he he, I wasn't planning on doing I swear." Naruto nervously chuckled as she let go of his shoulder allowing him to take a momentary breath of relief. Sasuke just remained where he was not willing to dive into whatever topic they were briefly glossing over, as the subjected was something not to Karin's liking, obviously.

"Tsunade loves alcohol, so much so that when she reaches a certain point you can ask her anything and she will answer it, rather bluntly though." Karin explained. "The only problem is we can't buy alcohol and I don't know where her stash is," Looking over at Naruto though, the two found him grinning like a fox. "but thankfully we have somebody who does."

"Oh, trust me, I've found that stash so many times its's unreal, at one point I even mixed the labels around to mess with her, including draining each bottle and putting tap water in them to make a point to her." Naruto stated.

"Okay, so we're going to go after Tsunade, with enough luck we can get her at a decent time, which I take it you already know Naruto?" Sasuke looked over at Naruto who nodded. "Very well, from this point on let's setup our plan."

"Who should be the one to go ask you mean?" Karin pointed out getting a nod in response. "Well Naruto is out of the picture as anything with him will be out of the picture, and since she doesn't know you that leaves me to go and do it."

"So, Naruto will get the alcohol from her and bring it to Karin to go and get the information from Tsunade." Sasuke restated so as everyone there understands the plan.

"What about you, you don't have a role in any of this." Naruto pointed out.

"I'm going to use my clan's influence, and the money I can acquire from my family to buy us the supplies that we'll need." Sasuke mentioned getting a nod from the other two. "Alright then we have exactly sixteen hours before we have to be at Training Ground Seven, within that time we'll gather the information and meet back up at a specified location to create our plan before going back to our homes to get plenty of rest."

"So, the question is where could we meet?" Karin thought aloud. "It would have to be somewhere secluded that doesn't get much traffic. That way we can plan everything out without any distractions."

"Why not the Hokage monument!" Naruto suggested. "The only people that really go there are a few people to repair the monument and shinobi who have to send out messages through the Aviary located back behind it."

"Alright then we'll meet up there once everything is set, so until then let's get everything underway." Sasuke stated before they all dispersed and began making their ways to their specific locations, all the while oblivious to the fact that Ghost was watching them the entire time with amusement surrounding his being.

'This will certainly be interesting, I hope Kakashi is ready for his new genin team, because it looks as though they're taking a stand.' Ghost thought as he disappeared to follow in suite.

* * *

The morning sun was now rising overhead of the genin of Team Seven. They had been waiting for a couple of hours now for their new sensei to arrive, although secretly they were waiting for him to begin the exercise to which they can enact their plan they've set into motion.

Waiting patiently, all three of them looked over in the direction of approaching footsteps to see their new sensei walking towards them. "Yo," he greeted. "I see that none of you chickened out."

"You're late!" Naruto yelled out in annoyance, to which Kakashi just gave them an excuse not to different from yesterday's and let bygones be bygones. Instructing them to leave their bags by the three stumps in the ground Kakashi took out an alarm clock from his own bag and set it to go off at noon. Before pulling them out to the open field closer to the river.

"Alright, first off I should explain the challenge that I'll be setting up for you today." Kakashi explained as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out two bells. "These two bells are your objective, your challenge is to steal them from me before the alarm goes off, anyone who fails not only doesn't get lunch, but they will also be tied to one of those stumps and will watch as I eat your lunch in front of you."

The three genin remained unfazed, instead they hardened their expressions much to Kakashi's amusement. "All you'll need is one bell to pass, whoever doesn't get a bell will be the one tied up and the first one to fail and be forced back to the academy in disgrace." Kakashi continued. "You may use any tool to your liking, such as a shuriken, and I do recommend that you attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."

Each of them steeled their nerves, they knew what they were going to do, but the anxiety building up within them was still harassing them. Noting this Kakashi decided to get things underway. "Alright, on my signal," Each of the genin readied themselves as they awaited the command. Without any further delay Kakashi delivered the order to begin. "BEGIN!"

With that Sasuke and Karin disappeared, leaving only Naruto standing there with his arms crossed and his gaze set on Kakashi. "What are you doing Naruto?" Kakashi asked with a bored tone.

"I'm here to settle on a real match between the greatest shinobi and the future greatest shinobi!" Naruto proclaimed getting a sigh from Kakashi.

"You may be thinking of the wrong kind of match, honestly I never took you to be so straightforward." Kakashi mentioned as he reached into his back pouch. Naruto briefly tensed up, but then relaxed upon recognizing the object in Kakashi's hand, which resulted in Naruto adorning a disgusted look on his face. "What, you know very well that I'm a fan of Jiraiya's work."

"You were never going to take this exercise, seriously were you?" Naruto asked in seemingly defeat as he groaned at Kakashi shrugging in response.

"Honestly, the only thing I've got to worry about are fresh out of the gate genin whose skills are far lacking in years and experience when compared to myself, so yes Naruto I'm not going to be as serious as I would be in an actually fight after all this is merely an exercise to see if you can truly make it as a shinobi after all." Kakashi stated proving Naruto's point. "Although do feel free to carry on it won't make that much of a difference, the outcome will still be the same."

Falling back on his anger Naruto shouted at Kakashi as he charged at the seasoned jonin and attempted to do deliver a spinning right hook leading into a left kick towards Kakashi only for him to miss entirely as Kakashi merely crouched down below Naruto's leg.

Annoyed Naruto jumped back a couple feet before trying a new approach, this time a more direct approach with his left arm pulled back and his right arm pulled forward. The difference this time around was that Kakashi disappeared and was now behind Naruto, who upon realizing what happened was the victim of Konoha's "Most Secret and Sacred Jutsu", "One Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi exclaimed as he shoved his fingers up towards Naruto resulting in said genin to be flung in the air and holding his butt in pain.

"Perhaps now you'll learn that the direct approach won't work this time." Kakashi mentioned towards the flying Naruto, who was still screaming.

"Just you wait because I'm going to get the last laugh!" Naruto yelled back before exploding into a small cloud of smoke and out of existence surprising Kakashi, who was quick to discern that it was a Shadow Clone. With that puff of smoke everything began.

Without warning several dozen shadow clones of Naruto sprang from the river and onto Kakashi, who was surprised at seeing the large number of clones that Naruto had created. Putting his book down for a moment Kakashi was taken by surprise when another Naruto came around and grabbed him from behind, insuring that he couldn't escape the attack.

"I hope you're ready for that payback!" One of the clones shouted.

Looking uninterested in the concept of being hit Kakashi was about to perform a quick substitution when he noticed that several kunai flew pass him and the clones striking at the base of the river, the result was a mass series of explosions from hidden explosive seals placed along the river's edge and curving into a crescent shape.

Realizing that he was in a trap Kakashi substituted with one of the Naruto clones and disappeared into the foliage back behind him. As he did he watched the tree the clones were close to explode wiping them out, possibly as an insurance to make sure he wasn't there.

'Interesting, Naruto insured that I wouldn't go anywhere but into the line of foliage behind him by simply utilizing shadow clones and explosive tags.' Kakashi remarked as he reflected the scene that had just transpired. 'No, Naruto wouldn't have been able to do all of this on his own, not entirely, someone had to throw those Kunai.'

Before he could think more on it a tag carrying an explosive tag landed next to him, embedding itself into the tree. Quick on his feet Kakashi jumped away onto another tree before the explosion went off, but quickly realizing the mistake it was. Lined across the tree line Kakashi spotted shinobi wire with explosive tags attached to what was the kunai resulting in a chain explosion sequenced that followed. To his disbelief the entire tree line around him began to light up as he found hidden explosive seals planted across it. Evading the explosions, Kakashi made his way down onto the forest floor where he dodged debris from the explosion.

Quickly dodging a large Demon Wind Shuriken, Kakashi turned to face Sasuke, who stood ready to fight Kakashi. "Well I can guess who set up the explosive tags now." Kakashi laced his words with a slight mock, while Sasuke simply began run through a serious of hand signs.

With determination Sasuke breathed in a large amount of air before breath back out a large sphere of fire at Kakashi. "Fire Style: Fire Ball jutsu!" He exclaimed as the ball raced towards Kakashi who side stepped seemingly effortlessly away from the ball which ignited into a miniature explosion upon colliding with the sturdy trees that stood in its path.

"Interesting, I see that the Uchiha signature jutsu has already been passed down to you, which means that your capable of much more than I originally considered." Kakashi opened stated as he tried to plan on Sasuke's Uchiha pride, but found that it was not coaxing him in the slightest, instead Sasuke just smirked before jumping away.

Unsure of the reasoning behind it, Kakashi's senses flared up as he dodged just in time to avoid being crushed by a large boulder. Unable to understand what had just happened Kakashi instantly recognized the familiar hissing sound that he now apparently gotten accustomed to as he leapt away just before the explosive tags around the boulder detonated.

'Okay, I will admit that this is indeed more interesting than I first thought, but what I'm trying to wonder is how exactly did they launch a boulder?!' By this point Kakashi had figured that the genin were indeed using teamwork, whether out a necessity for them to get the bells or genuinely working together he was not entirely sure.

In the distance Karin watched from her stand on an overlook towards the edge of the training ground. "Alright he is starting to move Southwards back towards the gate," Karin informed the group below her. Said group that was below her on a lower ledge were about seven shadow clones Naruto created. They were pushing over large boulders that were made previous for the exercise and were plastered with explosive tags to ensure that the plan proceeded accordingly. "first volley commence firing!" Four clones stood ready as they each picked up a boulder within in their hands, each one struggling at first to pull up from the ground but once they got it they spun around in a circle and with great effort and strength they launched the boulders in the air one after the other onto Kakashi's location before dispelling into smoke.

Kakashi watched on in horror as more boulders descended onto him forcing down a path as explosions riddled the area all around him. It was like he was in the Third Shinobi World War all over again, smoke and fire trickling the air.

Forced to continue his current path, the barrage forced him into an open field within the forest. Looking around Sasuke stood in front of him waiting for him to advance. "I will admit that you guys are indeed doing much better than I thought but did you really think that I'd come after you when this is an obvious trap?" Kakashi asked.

"You don't have a choice!" Sasuke yelled as the tree line behind Kakashi erupted into a massive explosion sending him forward into the field towards Sasuke. Charging at his sensei while he was being tossed forward by the explosion, Sasuke attempted to grab the bells.

Reaching forward Sasuke was close, but Kakashi struck out at him sending Sasuke skidding across the dirt. "Not bad, but now that I'm out here I guess that means you want to try and fight me now?" Kakashi asked before jumping up and over an attacking Naruto, who landed in front Kakashi before him and a dozen others rushed him. Sasuke scowling at a missed opportunity substituted with a log, leaving Kakashi to deal with the shadow clones Naruto created.

Individually they matched Naruto's skill, which wasn't much when considering Kakashi's experience. With ease Kakashi defeated each clone, before he was standing in an empty field. Looking around Kakashi was about to move along when he nearly tripped over a thin line of Shinobi wire which was lying across the ground.

Looking down at it, Kakashi watched as several lines of wiring rose out of the ground with explosive tags lighting up. "What is with these genin and explosive tags?!" Kakashi question aloud before escaping the blast that encompassed the field in a large chain reaction explosion.

In the distance Karin watched the explosion occur and sighed in relief as she watched as the transition to phase three was commencing. "Alright Kakashi is approaching quickly, all of those remaining slow him down so that I can meet up with Naruto." Karin ordered to the clones who all acknowledge her orders while she turned to leave.

As she did though she sensed something and quickly jumped away as an explosion erupted behind her. She could hear fighting occurring just below her, so she quickly began making her way over to the rendezvous point where Naruto was waiting.

Scaling the overlook Kakashi finished dispelling another clone as he watched Karin's form disappear in the dense foliage below. 'I see, they had her determine my location and by doing so allowed these clones to know where my position was so that they could launch those explosive boulders at me.' Kakashi noted before taking a second look around his surrounding and thinking on the exercise so far. 'How much time have they been putting into this plan? They couldn't have gotten this all setup in such a short amount of time that has passed since we started, did they set this up earlier this morning while I was at the hospital, if so then they are truly serious on besting me in this exercise.'

Smirking at the fact that his new genin students were pulling all they have learned out to use against him, Kakashi decided that he would play along just a little bit longer to see just how far they'd go. Jumping down onto the forest floor below Kakashi gave chase to Karin in hopes of learning more of what they've come up with.

For what it was worth Karin was utilizing her stamina to her advantage, but that didn't stop Kakashi from catching up with her. "Well now, I believe you're the one who was informing the other two of my location. I must say for someone who wishes to be a medical shinobi, you certainly have the abilities of a good scout." Kakashi praised. Karin stopping in her tracks looked at her new sensei with determination, she wasn't at the rendezvous point exactly but she was close enough.

Bringing her hands together to form a seal she sent out a pulse of chakra, signaling her position. Kakashi recognizing what she did was quickly taken by surprise when she charged him following directly afterwards. "Do you really think your Taijutsu is good enough to compete with my own?" Kakashi asked.

"Nope but it will do well enough until you're surrounded." Karin answered as she jumped up into the air he tossed an object out of her hands and into the air. Within a matter of seconds, a bright light erupted from the object blinding Kakashi with its radiance.

Sensing Karin's chakra disappearing Kakashi readied himself as he heard Naruto's voice. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu" He roared as the clones descended onto Kakashi who was once again forced to engage.

Meanwhile, Karin and the real Naruto were making their way back to the open field. "Sorry for having to call on you Naruto, I was trying to reach as soon as possible, but I underestimated his speed." Karin apologized.

"No need, once we meet up with Sasuke everything will be settled, and Kakashi-sensei will be the tied to the post instead." Naruto's reassurance did help Karin reaffirm her determination and the two continued forward.

As they exited the foliage they began making their way towards the three stomps. There they would enact the final phase of their plan that would above all else secure their victory over Kakashi. Running as fast as they could the two Uzumaki clansmen were intercepted by the Copycat himself, Kakashi.

"Now what do we have here, the two Uzumaki together running away? Or were you perhaps heading towards Sasuke." Considering how the two reacted Kakashi presumed that he was correct to think that way. He was standing between them and their ally, so he wanted to see what they would do when corner in a situation such as this.

Naruto, remaining firm conjured up a dozen more shadow clones to assist him as he charged at Kakashi, who stared boringly at the oncoming Naruto's. "Karin!" Naruto yelled while him and his clones attacked Kakashi. "Head over towards Sasuke, finish the plan!"

"But we can't finish it without you!" Karin pointed out.

"Just go, and I'll make sure my part it done!" Naruto shouted as he was struck by Kakashi who took the chance to attack him. Naruto quickly summoned a few more shadow clones to distract Kakashi while he got up and ushered Karin to run. Seeing that Naruto was unwilling to change his mind Karin ran over towards Sasuke's direction leaving Naruto to face Kakashi alone.

"Buying time so that your teammate can succeed in her mission, how admirable," Kakashi noted. "however, I still have the bells so really it is pointless." After striking the last clone Kakashi watched as Naruto began to chuckle, confusing the jonin. "Did I say something funny?"

"Well, first off those bells were never going to be a problem in the first place," Naruto began as he stood up entirely.

"Surely this entire time you weren't doing all of what you just did to not get the bells from me." Kakashi asked almost confused as to what madness had befallen his genin.

"To be perfectly honest we weren't planning on getting the bells, so much as making you give them to us." Naruto admitted. Kakashi thought the joke was rather bland in all honesty as he really didn't believe what he was hearing.

"What makes you think that I would willingly give you three the bells?" Kakashi asked, curious as to find out the reason for said madness. Naruto though just grinned as threw his arms into the ground and pulled up with all his strength a chain of shadow clones that lead all the way underneath of the Kakashi's current location.

Taken by surprise the clone at the end of the chain grabbed a hold of Kakashi by his ankles, and with all his strength Naruto began flailing the chain in the air before conducting a whipping action that launched Kakashi over towards the three stumps.

Catching himself Kakashi landed his feet and continued to skid before finally stopping in front of the three stumps. 'Okay, so they have plan involving the stumps.' Kakashi began to think as he carefully began to survey the area. As he did he found Karin starring in disgust at him.

Curious as to her reason why he looked over to see that she was standing next to the furthest stump away from him, which was about twenty feet away. Sitting on top of said stump was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, who had in his hands something that made Kakashi freeze instantly, his Make-Out Paradise book.

"How do you have that?" Kakashi asked as his eye widened upon realizing the large grin on Sasuke's face.

"Back around the same time you kicked me away when I was about to grab those bells." Sasuke answered causing a dumbfounded look to manifest on the part of Kakashi's face that was visible. "This entire time you were busy thinking that we were after those bells, when really, we were after the one thing that you love the most, your precious book."

Looking at his book Kakashi noticed that there was an explosive seal on both sides of the cover. Turning his attention to Sasuke he didn't want to believe what was happening. "You wouldn't dare." Kakashi uttered, to which Sasuke just looked at the book in his hands and then back at Kakashi.

'To be quite honest I was against this plan from the beginning because of just how stupid it sounded to me earlier, but now I see why Naruto kept pushing for it.' Sasuke thought to himself. "Well Kakashi, that is for you to decide." Kakashi didn't say a word, all he did was stare at his new students, while also trying to process the entire situation.

"You want me to give you the bells in exchange for my book?!" Kakashi questioned. Sasuke though remained unfazed, this time however, he looked back at the book and began rethinking this plan.

"You mean you don't care about this book after all?" Sasuke asked, this just forced Kakashi to stutter a response as he attempted to dissuade Sasuke from harming his book. "Well then Kakashi if your keen on getting your book back in one piece then I suggest that you hand over those bells."

The standoff continued for a few more moments, in the end though Kakashi conceived and relinquished the bells to the two in exchange for his book. Quick to remove any explosive seals that might still be on his book Kakashi then looked on at his students, seemingly waiting to see what they do.

Karin and Sasuke though just looked at the bells ambivalently before casting them aside temporarily from their minds as they turned to see Naruto making his way slowly over to them. His pace was slow, and they could easily discern that his body was aching, as such Sasuke jumped down from the stump as he and Karin walked over and assisted Naruto over to the tree stumps.

Careful as to sit him up against the middle tree stump where they waited to see what he would say next. "So," Naruto began as his breathing was slightly labored. "did we do it? Did we get the bells?" Sasuke and Karin quickly raised up a bell each causing Naruto to grin as well before turning to face Kakashi. "How'd you like that you Cyclops, next time think twice on whose clones you use that stupid poking jutsu on."

"Honestly Naruto, I'm surprised that you could make all those clones, let alone ensuring that they were set to remain viable for two hours, that alone should've drained you entirely of chakra." Sasuke praised earning a sheepish grin in response.

"It was nothing really, just the typical large chakra reservoirs from my Uzumaki blood is all." Naruto sheepishly responded before he suddenly found himself having the two bells being tossed at him. Catching the two of the with his right hand, Naruto looked at Karin and Sasuke, as he wondered why they were giving him the bells.

"Well considering that without you this entire plan wouldn't have even gotten off the ground without your clones assisting in setting up everything earlier this morning, I'd say that you've done quite enough to have those bells." Karin mentioned.

"But it really wasn't anything special guys." Naruto's attempt to downplay his own actions wasn't passing. In fact it seemed to have intensified the other two's determination of getting their compliments through his thick head.

"Look, when we failed to get the information about this test you suggested that since this exercise was going to be used to judge us, why not prove ourselves by striking at the heart of our enemy, by doing so you assisted us in being able to pass this exercise." Sasuke added surprising Naruto, as he didn't consider Sasuke the type to compliment someone.

"Wait, you three tried getting information on this exercise?" Kakashi questioned the three, who all nodded. "Then if you said you failed to obtain the information, then how did you know about the true purpose of this exercise being teamwork?"

"We just decided that we'd prefer passing rather than going back to the academy in all honesty." Karin answered. "At first, we weren't really planning on do anything with teamwork, aside from me and Naruto, but it just ended up this way while talking about everything we learned after the team meeting yesterday."

"So, all three of you decided that you would not only ban together to pass the exercise, but also gain information on the test as to give you an advantage?" Kakashi asked for clarification.

"Well they were the ones trying to get the information, I just went and got the equipment." Sasuke admitted. "And the plan was only able to come together thanks to Karin considering she was the key factor in this whole thing, she was commanding the boulder squad that was essential in leading you to this point." Karin was sheepish in response as she just tried to wave it off as nothing special even though Naruto agreed with Sasuke, and even tried getting her to see how important her role really was.

Kakashi remained silent, he was watching his new team while reflecting on the entire situation. Looking around the training grounds smoke was everywhere and large craters from all the explosions were certainly showing as well. 'To think three genin could cause this much of a hassle, I guess I underestimated their capabilities.' Kakashi thought to himself. 'No, individual capabilities I'm fully aware of, however, the fact they were willing to go extreme methods just to get my book and make it to where I wouldn't notice, that is something that is indeed praise worthy.'

Starring at his team Kakashi's eye hardened as memories of last week flowed into his mind. Looking down at his bandaged arms Kakashi remembered the moments that allowed for such an event to occur.

* * *

 _"Lord Hokage you can't be serious!" Kakashi protested as he attempted to move from his position, which involved him lying in a bed. Kakashi was currently resting on one of the spare beds in an unoccupied room of the medical wing that was still in isolation._

 _"Kakashi, for now it's for the best that I have Naruto removed from Team Seven's roster until we have fully gained an understanding of the situation." Sarutobi reaffirmed his position forcing Kakashi to send a glare towards the older shinobi that stood before him. "The fact that Naruto has shown abilities unlike any seen before in any generation of shinobi, let alone history, our decision is sound."_

 _"But to lock him away underground deep within the confines of the foundation?! Your locking him away out of fear because of the unknown, and yet it could very well be something simple and easily treated!" Kakashi expressed as he hardened his gaze on the Third Hokage. "You fear that he will go on a rampage and destroy the village, much like the previous Kyuubi jinchuuriki, except that this time you aren't as confident in the strength of the 'Will of Fire'."_

 _"Kakashi, the information that was told to you was meant to be a way as to explain the reasoning that the council, including myself, have decided on this matter." Kakashi's eyes widened upon hearing the council being brought up._

 _"You informed the council of this matter?! Are you mad, they will forget that he is the son of the Fourth Hokage and instead view him as a monster just like a Jinchuuriki!" Kakashi yelled at the Third Hokage. Sarutobi remained unfazed as Kakashi raised himself up from his resting position and pushed himself off the bed with assistance from his elbows._

 _Sarutobi just watched as the famed Copycat Shinobi Hatake Kakashi raised his figure above his stature to size the Hokage up. Despite the obvious difference in height Sarutobi just let out a sigh as his eyes locked onto the limp bandaged appendages that hung on both sides Kakashi's torso._

 _Remembering the smell of scorched flesh after Kakashi had successfully extracted enough of Naruto's chakra to stabilize him Sarutobi might not have said it, but he was impressed that Kakashi even had the strength to get out of the bed and stand on his own two feet in revolt against him._

 _"Naruto is my student, he has been since officially two days ago, and as his sensei I can rightly say that the situation does not garner enough of reason to lock him away!" Kakashi began as his breathing became rigid. "If it must come down to it I will take him out of this hospital and leave the village and help him tame that power within him, and this village will never be able to reach him."_

 _Sarutobi's eyebrow twitched in response to the challenge the newly appointed sensei was issuing him. "You are speaking of desertion rather freely Kakashi, watch what you say after all you do stand before the Hokage of this village." The Old Hokage removed the pipe that was resting in his mouth, before blowing out the smoke from his mouth._

 _"It is not desertion if your heart still lies with your homeland, what I state is the preservation of what little morality still exists inside of this village." Kakashi enforced as he took step towards the Hokage. "This village has long since been declining in the basic moral code established by our founders for order to exist, lest we fall back into the previous state that existed during the warring states era." Sarutobi remained silent as he allowed Kakashi to voice his own opinion of the matter, while he still could. "You have been listening the words of that old snake Danzo, who has blinded you of the moral decisions that you once followed."_

 _"You are wrong in that regard Kakashi," Sarutobi interceded. "I was the one who ordered Danzo to do everything up to this point." Kakashi fell silent as his single eye widened in shock at the words that echoed in his head. "Everything involving Naruto following his chakra resurfacing has been indirectly associated to my tampering."_

 _"Why?! Why would you do that to Naruto, don't you see him as a grandson like many of us were made to believe?!" Kakashi demanded as his anger rose._

 _Nothing was said as Sarutobi lowered his hat to conceal his eyes from Kakashi's view. "Trust me when I say that I did everything with Naruto's wellbeing in full regard, but I needed him to advance his strength." Sarutobi informed Kakashi, who was perplexed even more over the entire matter._

 _"So, you allowed for Danzo to secretly try and kidnap Naruto, or even allow Mizuki to take Karin just so that you could see what would happen with Naruto?!" Kakashi was infuriated, how could someone such as the Third Hokage, who was everything like a Grandfather to Naruto, fall to such corrupt manipulation._

 _"Danzo was always after Naruto because of the Uzumaki genes that flowed within his body, that was always apparent to me, although that was something that I never ordered Danzo to do." Sarutobi explained. "The part about Mizuki though wasn't entirely planned to be perfectly honest, we knew that he was associated with Orochimaru, however, we never expected him to go after Karin, considering that Orochimaru always sought after the Sharingan it was presumed that he would send Mizuki after an Uchiha, but our assumption was proven wrong, and because of that we are here talking right now."_

 _"Do Jiraiya and Tsunade know about this?" Kakashi asked, to his surprise the Third Hokage informed him that neither of them were informed. "Then what do you presume would happen if they found out that Naruto was going to locked away deep underground until further answers in the research of his powers surfaced?"_

 _"I am very certain that neither of them would approve of the plan that has been set forth, but putting that aside it is too risky for Naruto to walk around the village right now." Kakashi narrowed his eye. The Third Hokage was going against Naruto's guardian's backs in this regard._

 _"Then what of Karin? She is still receiving care, and Sasuke witnessed Naruto's power during their little skirmish, would you lock them away just for exposure to his power?" Kakashi wondered as Sarutobi walked over past the chair that was facing Kakashi's bed. He had sat in it prior to informing Kakashi of the council's plan, but now there was no need for sitting there. His silent composure was all Kakashi needed in order for him to understand what was going to happen, and it was enough to warrant what he was about to do._

 _As the Third Hokage began to make his way over to the door he was surprised when he saw Kakashi struggle pass him and blocked the doorway. The Anbu that were in the shadows were both surprised and worried, many knew of Kakashi in the Anbu Corp. there was plenty of respect directed at him on a daily basis, but now they were witnessing that same person of praise defying the Hokage of the only exit out of the room._

 _"What are you doing Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked the exhausted jonin sensei before him._

 _"I'm stopping you from leaving this room." Kakashi answered._

 _"I know that, but why are you doing that?" Sarutobi asked him yet again._

 _"If you leave this room then it's guaranteed that Naruto will be locked away, and forced into a life even worse than before." Kakashi began. "Locked away from his friends by one of the few people that he cares about so deeply. It would ruin him, and then what? What will happen if the answers you want aren't found, will you just abandon him down there for the rest of his life? I will not accept that!"_

 _"So, your saying that you're openly defying me, and by blocking my path with your beaten and scarred body no less?" Sarutobi repeated as if he wanted confirmation from Kakashi himself if his intentions were true._

 _"My conviction will never change, so long as I still draw breath I will insure that Naruto's safety will never be forsaken!" Kakashi's proclamation was echoed by his own determination, something that Sarutobi was keen on picking up. "So, for now why don't you get comfy on that chair over-"_

 _As Kakashi was about to finish his sentence he was struck from behind, forcing him to fall to the floor as the pressure directed at his neck had caused him to begin drifting into unconsciousness. Catching him, Sarutobi stood looking over the Fourth Hokage's pupil. A smile graced the old man's face as he acknowledged Kakashi's determination._

 _"Not many are so willing to go above and beyond for the sake of their students Kakashi, yet you are an exception." Sarutobi began as he moved to place Kakashi back on the bed. Kakashi, who was still slightly aware of his surroundings was surprised upon what he was hearing. "I never intended for any of this to happen, as Hokage I am tasked with the protection of this village and its people. Yes, I can't be expected to save a single person over the many countless others, however, there are times when even an old man like myself, who has given everything to the state he has sworn to protect, wishes to be selfish and do as he pleased, in this case overruling everyone and allowing Naruto to continue his path as a shinobi."_

 _As Kakashi fell deeper into unconsciousness the less he could understand. "Kakashi, I am tasking you to look over Naruto's growth. Assist him, be a model for him, above all teach him the code that a shinobi should follow that will lead him onto the path that he desires," Sarutobi's words were beginning to fade, even still Kakashi was able to hear the last part as clearly as if he was still conscious. "because one day I want Naruto to take this hat for himself and become a leader that I nor any former Kage could ever be, a true leader whose example will inspire others, a beacon to all Shinobi nations, a true Savior of the world."_

* * *

Kakashi continued to look on at his team. They hadn't even noticed his gaze, they were too busy talking to each other. Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle to himself. 'I wonder if this feeling I have was the same feeling that sensei had when he began training us all those years ago?' Kakashi wondered.

It soon became apparent though that his team had finished what they were doing as they were looking up at Kakashi, as though thinking as to what it was he was really doing. "Sorry about that I got lost in thought for a moment." Kakashi sheepishly stated.

"So, Kakashi-sensei we passed the test, right?!" Naruto was eager to know if all their efforts wasn't for nothing. Kakashi giving him an eye smile lifted their spirits immediately.

"I would like to say that you three were the first team that I have given this test to, that have actually met every requirement to pass and beyond, however, the fact that you stole my beloved book has made me reconsider my opinion." Kakashi flatly replied causing all three genin to fall flat upon registering what he said.

"WHAT!" Naruto and Karin yelled in unison, forcing Kakashi to check his ears due to the severity of the loud sound that emanated from the two.

"It's as I said before, you three stole my book, as such I could care less if you three excelled at the exercise, that book means more to me than teaching three nobody genin." Kakashi explained causing the three to automatically seethe in response.

"That's not fair! We did everything and then some, just like you said, and yet your failing us because we stole that stupid book of yours!" Naruto roared at Kakashi.

"Well when you put it that way it makes me sound like a terrible person." Kakashi thought allowed, getting a collective nod from his genin, including Sasuke. "To bad I don't really care what anyone else thinks of me."

All three genin were fuming at their ordeal. None of them wanted to go back to the academy for multiple reasons, let alone because their instructor failed them because of a book, they would be considered a mockery.

"Hey now cheer up, you three got the better of me, which is something that should at the very least be acknowledged, so as a parting gift why don't I buy all of us a nice hot meal!" Kakashi's enthusiasm was quickly drenched as he watched the trio sulk over to their stuff and begin leaving the training field. "Hey where are you three going?"

"Home, where do you expect, at least there some of us are acknowledge for our efforts." Naruto yelled back in annoyance. Kakashi watched as they made their way off the field and towards the path back to the village.

"Talk about a waste of time." Karin muttered, to which the other two agreed.

"I knew I should have just stayed under training from that grandpa toad." Naruto groaned. "At least that way I could have gained the title of "Sage" in a few years, unlike going through the academy, graduating, getting a headband, only to be sent back to do it all over again."

"You were learning to become a Sage?!" Sasuke asked with surprise.

"Yeah, that was how he could throw those boulders, so easily." Karin mentioned.

"Not really, that took a lot of effort which was why my clones dispelled immediately afterwards." Naruto corrected. "I still have a long way to go before I can do that without hurting myself in the process."

"Do you think that I could also learn to become a Sage as well?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't see why not, the only problem is that you'll need a summoning contract to become one, or at least that's the way I'm doing it, I'm not sure if there are other methods that you could take or not, but I think the Pervy-sage could help you out."

"Pervy-sage?" Sasuke repeated with confusion.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin." Karin stated, answering the question that Sasuke was bound to ask. "It's a name that Naruto came up with because of Jiraiya's…tendencies." Not one to prod any further Sasuke just kept up with the two as they made their way through the wooded path that would take them to the main road to the village.

"Wow you guys are depressing." A sound voice rang out causing all three to look up in front of them to see Kakashi walking down the same path as them. Confused as to when he had passed them, one of them was about to question it before Kakashi beat them to the punch. "So, you think that by becoming a "Sage" that it will automatically make it easier for you to become a shinobi?"

"Well considering that Sages are highly respected for their craft, it's not exactly farfetched." Karin pointed out, to which Kakashi did agree as it was very true that Sages were indeed sought after by many as to learn something from them, however.

"But do you really think that by going down that path that it will make it easier for you to become shinobi?" Kakashi asked again. None of the three knew how to answer him as they still presumed that by being a sage it meant that they could still reach that point. "Even if you become a sage you will still have to be tested to ascertain what your rank would be in the shinobi force. Those tests are incredibly difficult, as it is expected from a sage that they must be beyond the capabilities of normal shinobi. You might be a sage, but you could still fail the test is what I'm saying. Only after dedicating years of your life to mastering everything under you belt and branching out beyond your comfort zone could you pass those tests, and in all honesty, you three don't have what it takes to do that."

"Quit crushing our dreams further into the dirt, or next time I'll make sure to burn that book in front of your eyes!" Naruto warned.

"Oh ho, that is something that I would like to see you try considering it took you relying on your teammates and orchestrating a plan that turned an entire training field into a warzone just to steal my book the first time." Kakashi mentioned.

"Heh, you can go ahead and underestimate me, but that will only lead in your downfall, as I'm certain that Karin and Sasuke would very much like to do the same." Naruto warned.

"Is that true? Karin, Sasuke, do you agree with Naruto?" Kakashi asked while looking back over his shoulder at the two in question.

"To be quite honest I think we could do worse than burning that book in front of your face, but I can settle on that." Sasuke replied.

"Trust me when I say that I would very much be willing to join Naruto and Sasuke on the next attempt, regardless if we have to make a plan of more complexity than the last, just to see that book burning and the ashes destroyed even further." Karin answered.

Karin's answer made Kakashi slightly unnerved at the fact that she was the more expressive in what they would like to do to his book. Nonetheless Kakashi turned his attention back to the very same book that led up to this. "If that is what you all agree on then you can try again tomorrow at around the same time as today's exercise." Kakashi replied getting a variety of mixed looks from the three behind him.

"What are you saying? You failed us, didn't you?" Naruto pointed out in confusion.

"Yes, I failed all three of you on today's exercise, I never said that I was failing you entirely." Kakashi pointed out to the three, whom stopped in their tracks with mixed expressions of shock. Looking back at the three in confusion, Kakashi continued to mess with the genin even further. "Did the you three think that because I said that the exercise was a failure that I meant that I was sending you guys back to the academy?" None of them said a word, which just added to Kakashi's own amusement, so he decided to go even further with it. "Come now, when did I say that you three failed, as such I'm sending you back to the academy?"

All three of them faceplanted into the ground before Kakashi turned back and began walking back to the village. "HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" Kakashi stopped and turned around once again to see Naruto, the first to rebound from their shock, coming at him with an angered expression.

Letting out an annoyed sigh Kakashi stepped to the side, avoid Naruto's obvious assault, and once he turned around to face Kakashi, Naruto was met with a flick to his forehead protector sending him down onto the ground. "Calm down already, I was messing with the three of you. Everyone passed as such we can now move on to the next part of today, lunch, considering that the lunch everyone had prepared was blown up by a stray explosive tag." Kakashi stated.

Naruto, rubbing his forehead where he was flicked muttered something under his breath before getting up onto his feet and along with Karin and Sasuke followed Kakashi all the way back to the village. The three of them whispered to each other on how weird Kakashi seemed to be, unaware that Kakashi could hear them quite easily.

For Kakashi it was enough to make him feel both satisfied and proud that his team was already starting to get along and forming bonds, which was a massive improvement to how his team under Minato was. Thinking back on his old memories yet again Kakashi certainly was feeling nostalgic, something that wasn't really reoccurring unless he was visiting Rin, but as he pulled his thoughts together the same feeling as earlier began to return, pride.

Kakashi was proud in the effort that his team not only displayed but went through just to best him and for that he couldn't ask for anything in return. 'Minato-sensei, I will not go back on my word. I will make it so that Naruto understands the shinobi code that you, my father, and Obito all believed in so much. So, for now please watch us as we live out the rest of our lives with pride knowing that we will be marching forward, each day with the will of fire deep in our hearts.' Kakashi thought as a new part begins not only in his life, but the life for the future shinobi of Konoha, Team Seven's genin.

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **Oh my gosh…FINALLY! I did it, I completed this chapter! {Momentary sigh of relief} Okay, so guys this chapter has finally established Team Seven, and might I add that there were so many problems I was facing with this chapter going into it. Typically, I type this section last, so that my conclusion of the chapter is fully represented, including my initial thoughts, but this chapter has exhausted me greatly.**

 **(Note: I decided to keep the what is currently in this bottom author note, primarily because it captures my current relief of transferring accounts.)**

 **This chapter took two weeks to make, and I mean sitting down and writing, then typing, my concept was always there with my bullet points, but man, it wasn't a slog, rather it was a battle, lol.**

 **Back to the topic on hand I feel as though I should explain a couple of things that might be hard to discern from this chapter.**

 **1\. The Third Hokage – Okay, I know people are going to go nuts with this one but allow me to shed some light onto this one. The Third Hokage is a man who typically gets things accomplished his way, note HIS way. He is both shrewd from his years as being a Hokage and learning under Tobirama, who to be honest was far more serious than Hashirama. The whole scene between him and Kakashi was to determine if Kakashi was truly dedicated on becoming the Jonin sensei of Team Seven. He wanted to see if it was truly dedication to the Will of Fire and Kakashi's past sensei, Minato, or if he was just going to put the same amount of effort into it as most of his work since leaving the Anbu.**

 **2\. Naruto and the electricity – Not telling, aside from the fact that it was an after effect of something, interesting. :P**

 **3\. Shinobi wiring used to transfer Naruto's discharges to the ground – Uhm, this one is rather simple. Konoha was experimenting in way to counteract lightning ninjutsu, and create new tools for shinobi, who like Kakashi, live in Konoha and have a Lightning element affinity.**

 **If there are any more questions that any of you have that I didn't cover in this quick chapter explanation, then you can just leave a review and I'll get back to you in the next chapter or just PM men and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **This is it for me until this coming Saturday. Chapter Nine you will bend to my will! {Chapter nine stares back unimpressed} Darn it… T-T**

 **I'll catch everyone later, I am need of some sleep. Have a great day and PEACE!**


	9. The Next Step

**Hello there everyone, this is Shin Aedra. I have with me the newest chapter to VGD. Chapter nine is here! It took a while, but its here. Now I will say that this chapter is short. This is due to me focusing in on the content that was necessary to cover. That being the beginning of the Land of Waves arc.**

 **Now I plan on keeping to a schedule that releases chapters every other week or so. I do have a schedule on my profile if your curious. That is plan during the summer. I want to get through the Land of Waves arc, mainly before I return to college in the fall. After it starts up updates will be up in the air.**

 **Though I will say that there might be an update occasionally, though don't hold me to it. I have the summer to work on progression. Now if you have any questions feel free to ask, otherwise let's start!**

 **Disclaimer: The following is a fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 9: The Next Step

The bustling traffic moving throughout the village was flowing about the many streets, from the Market districts, to the private sectors, residential districts, and government buildings. The average member of this traffic would normally pay no mind to their surroundings, however, those that were unfortunate enough to be in a certain area at a specific time were subjugated to interruption of three genin conducting perhaps one of their most tedious mission's yet, the Tora retrieval mission.

This infamous mission was perhaps the most daunting on the newly established Team Seven, not so much in regards do to the effort the team had to go through to capture the feline, but rather the frequency in which they had to continually recapture the cat because of the Daimyo's wife's affectionate disposition.

Despite the frequency, the Team did however achieve something that no one else could ever conceive, they not only caught the cat in record time, they broke their own record each time, consecutively, earning the praise of many shinobi whom had the "pleasure" of conducting that very same mission in the past, although to Team Seven, they were well past the point of frustration when it came to this mission.

Looking over his book, Kakashi viewed his team handling their "objective" with the necessary "care". Wiggling helplessly, Tora, the infamous escapee cat, was attempting very desperately to escape from what would be a drawn out and sadistically painful death by the hands of her current captors. Being held by Sasuke, Tora looked on to see the malevolent stares coming from the two Uzumaki. Both masked in a radiance of murder, which was unlike anything the cat had ever witnessed. Surely Tora knew that her nine lives wouldn't be enough to walk away from what was going to happen.

Seeing the cat's plight Kakashi let out an annoyed sigh as he put his book away and made his way over to his team, who were currently a few feet away from him. "Alright now, you know that we're not allowed to harm her, so don't give her any reason to die on us before we can get her back to the Daimyo's wife." Kakashi mentioned only getting the usual grumble that emanated itself from his students. "Let's head up to the Hokage's office and report that we've completed our mission."

Since their graduation, the genin of Team Seven have been tasked with the mundane tasks that they were "required" to take as D-Rank missions, something that lost its glamor early on. The frustration that was radiating off Team Seven was a clear indication of their attitude towards their repetitive tasks. They found the tasks that D-Ranks required to be trivial and unproductive towards their growth as Shinobi. Kakashi had reaffirmed the necessity in taking D-Ranks, which were meant to be a stepping stone into the shinobi career. Often saying phrases such as, "Try not to think of these tasks as tasks, but ordeals that you must conquer, it will go a long way into your advancement, more so than you think." The words may have ramped up their patience for a short time but following a series of "capture the cat" far too many times even those words lost their grace in time.

Following their sensei up to the Hokage residence the same thought was dominating the minds of the genin, that these D-Rank missions must end. "How much longer must we keep completing these trivial tasks?" Naruto seethed just under his own breath for his teammates to hear him. "For two weeks, we've done nothing but repeating this mission so many times I've lost count!"

"Naruto, you know that we don't have any control over what missions we're assigned." Karin quickly pointed out. "Those rights belong to the Hokage and by extension Kakashi-sensei, who delivers our developments through the reports he sends in to the Hokage."

"But Karin, these missions are boring and they're not getting us anywhere!" Naruto groaned as he snuck a look over at their sensei with an ugly expression that mirrored his mood.

"I understand why you feel that way Naruto, trust me, I feel the exact same way, however, even if we just have no say in the matter." Karin added. Naruto, begrudgingly lowers his head in acceptance. The sudden silence from the blond haired genin formed an uneasy feeling amongst the three, but Karin's words were true, they had no say.

Sasuke for all intents purpose sided with Naruto in this matter, although he wouldn't vocalize this, he instead reflected on the pass six weeks and just how much truth Naruto's words were. Having to catch the dreaded Tora over sixteen times, each time Sasuke came close to losing an eye from the demon cat's claws, he ever so sadistically tightened his grip on the feline that was trapped within his grip. Tora yelped slightly before Sasuke relinquished the tightened grip on the feline to a looser one. Meanwhile, said cat seemed to understand her situation as she looked up at Sasuke with pleading eyes, to which Sasuke just stared back with an expressionless gaze.

"Do not think that I won't kill you the next time we have to catch you cat, because next time I'll make sure that you have an "accident". One that we tried so hard to save you from, only to not reach you in time, oh the tragedy it will be." Sasuke's words lavished in venom as each word he spoke placed a foreboding and dark tone to his speech, which the cat instantly took to the underlining hint that Sasuke had so clearly dropped.

Looking over to the other genin, Tora sought the help from someone who wasn't Sasuke, but all she found were the same stares that Sasuke was giving her. The killing intent radiating off the genin was truly frightening to the feline, especially the overwhelming feeling it sensed coming from Naruto, whose red eyes nearly made Tora's small heart skip a beat as the cat felt the pressure sweep over her. It was malicious, and she felt as though she was at the jaws of a predator, whose sole reasoning for not striking yet was due to circumstance, otherwise she knew that she'd be dead by now. Glancing over towards Kakashi with pleading eyes, Tora found that her one salvation was too busy reading his own book to look back at the cat's situation.

"You know what, I think I'll do it." Naruto's sudden voice broke the tense atmosphere around the genin and redirecting the other two's attention on himself. "Once we've turned in this cat I'm going to demand the Hokage for a C-Rank mission." Karin just rolled her eyes, while Sasuke, locking eyes with Naruto's, gave the slightest nod as though saying that he agreed with him.

"You know that it won't lead to anything." Karin stated, to which Naruto just smirked at her.

"Trust me when I say that I have a plan that will force the Hokage in giving us that C-Ranked mission." Naruto's smirk never left his face, he was confident, perhaps too confident in whatever plan it was that he was talking about.

"So long as we're not dragged into the punishment's you'll receive I won't care." Karin replied with a sigh as she realized that Naruto was set on his goal. "Just try not to get us something that might be too much for us to handle."

"What are you worried about Karin? Did you forget that you're in the company of the future Hokage?! No matter the situation, I can overcome it or I'm not Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto's overconfidence had seemingly peaked, because now he seemed to have forgotten about Tora entirely, as a grin laced itself upon his face sending of warning bells in Karin's head, but she could do nothing as they finally arrived at the Hokage's residence, and so Naruto grabbed Tora from Sasuke's arms and quickly ran pass Kakashi an into the building.

"Hmm, is he that eager to get rid of the cat?" Kakashi questioned aloud as he looked up from his book at the form of his orange cladded student. "Well might as well follow him in, because knowing him there might be a problem on our hands if the Daimyo's wife is already here." Closing his book, before returning it back into his pouch, Kakashi tucked his hands in his front pockets as he walked into the building after his student.

"How much you want to bet that he'll screw up?" Sasuke asked Karin as the two just watched the whole thing transpire.

"Based off previous attempts, not so well." Karin replied as they both walked into the building, bowing to the secretary as part of proper etiquette, before heading up the stairs where they could still hear Naruto's mouth from the floor above, and Kakashi, who was trying to quiet him down.

* * *

Through a matter of about ten minutes Team Seven was completely thrown through a quick series of chaotic tendencies the likes of which resulted in Naruto being tied up in shinobi wire and his mouth taped shut. The Daimyo's wife had long since left once she got her precious Tora, which spared her from witnessing such brashness. Naruto though remained determine regardless of his state as he attempted many times over to free himself from his restraints, and within the time of his restraining to the present, he had nearly loosened himself about five times before Kakashi finally tightened the wire to a point that Naruto could no longer budge, at least not easily.

With a sigh Sarutobi rubbed his temple as he looked over at his adoptive grandson, eyes still brimming with determination. "You are determined as ever Naruto. Your admiration is noted; however, do you really think that you are truly ready for such a change in pace?" Sarutobi asked, getting a quick nod in response. "Then if you are so certain of yourself, then what of your teammates? Do they share the same view?"

Karin and Sasuke remained silent up until this point, neither saying a word, even when Naruto was finally suppressed. Looking over at Naruto, the two genin saw his expression and how he nudged his head towards the Hokage, as though trying to say, "Go on and tell him, there is nothing to lose".

The first one was Sasuke, who shared Naruto's view from the beginning. "Lord Hokage, it is true, Naruto is right, these tasks are not helping us in our development." Sasuke stated, receiving a neutral expression in return.

"Please explain as to why you've come to believe this Sasuke." Sarutobi asked, wanting to know the reasoning for such thoughts.

"Lord Hokage, these missions have lived passed their usefulness to us as developing Shinobi," Sasuke began before directing his attention to Naruto. "Naruto is right, if we are to develop as proper shinobi we need to start partaking in missions in the next tier. If we no longer show development in the current tier, then by taking missions in the next tier we can gain the necessary experience to continue our development."

Acknowledging the truth that lied behind those words Hiruzen looked over towards Karin, whom took a step forward to speak herself. "Lord Hokage, Team Seven has only been an official team for about two months now, and if this was earlier then I would personally admit that we aren't ready." Karin admitted. "However, several weeks have gone by and as you know we aren't just some run of the mill genin. We are descendants of clans. We have been training since childhood to reach the point that we're at."

Clearing his throat as to voice his own opinion. Looking on with a stern expression, Iruka set his gaze on the three genin. Sitting not far from the Hokage, he had been there the entire time from which Naruto blatantly barged in and practically tossed the devil cat at the Daimyo's wife. Thankfully she was too distracted by her feline to take notice of such an offense.

"That may be so, but there are plenty of other clan heirs that have advanced to genin level, and their senseis haven't sent any formal request for C-Rank missions either." Iruka explained.

"That may be true, but you forget Iruka-sensei that were the top graduates of our year. Each of us have been under the tutelage of varying shinobi, some of which are Jonin, Anbu and Sannin. The fact of the matter is that we've displayed enough results that can be seen from Kakashi-sensei's reports." Karin replied causing Kakashi to think back on those same reports with reluctance.

Sarutobi, noticing the expression on the former Anbu Captain's face, exchanged silently. Kakashi slightly nodded before the Hokage closed his eyes and with his right hand taking a hold of his pipe.

"I have something as well from those very reports." Iruka mentioned as he shuffled through some papers. "Your team lacks effective teamwork unless circumstances present themselves." As he continued to read off from the documents shock and disbelief to radiate from the genin. "Sasuke, your temperament hasn't changed since your time in the academy. Considering your brooding disposition, it seems that even on a team you haven't broken out of that solo mindset of yours."

Sasuke's face displayed a sense of display. 'Something isn't right here.' He thought as he listened further to Iruka.

"Karin, though you may have advanced in chakra control you're still lagging behind in other fields. Since you've decided on becoming a medical shinobi I would recommend visiting the hospital during your free time to learn something from the profession."

'I've been learning the basics of a medical shinobi from Shizune for a couple weeks now.' Karin thought. 'Surely that should've been in the report, and why is he saying I'm lagging behind?'

Iruka took this time to pause as he looked over at Naruto. The blond in question narrowed his eyes, as though daring him to say something that he didn't want to hear. "Need I even say anything?" Iruka asked rhetorically as he watched Naruto attempt to escape his bindings. "Though there exists an intelligence, the mischievous nature that plagues you along with a simple-minded thought process has caused you to cease developing. I'm rather disappointed that you would let this happen to yourself Naruto."

The last part seemed to have reverberated a little bit as a trace of disappointment was evident in Iruka's voice, which was something that Naruto couldn't stand. Looking up at his sensei, Naruto glared intensely at Kakashi with an expression that demanded answers. Kakashi remained stoic as he awaited the verdict. "Because of these reasons I cannot recommend that Team Seven should be allowed to partake in C-Rank missions." Iruka concluded.

Naruto, along with the rest of Team Seven seethed. Looking at their sensei with contempt. Sarutobi, however, rose his hand to interject. "Pardon me Iruka," the old Kage interrupted. "but these genin seem fixated on taking a C-ranked mission. Let us see what they have to say."

Iruka seemed surprised by the notion. "Lord Hokage, you're not considering giving them a C-rank mission, are you?!" Iruka questioned.

"I am merely analyzing the situation Iruka." Sarutobi stated while looking over at the chunin. "Their gaze is enough for me to tell their determination." Sarutobi returned his gaze towards the three genin of team seven. "I'll ask again, do you feel that your team is truly ready for a C-ranked mission?"

There was no reply, though the expressions on each of the genin's faces was enough of an answer. Chuckling to himself Sarutobi reached for a file that was underneath some paperwork on his desk. Looking over it to confirm that it was the one he wanted Sarutobi looked up at Kakashi before handing him the file.

Taking the file Kakashi noticed that it was an escort mission, specifically a C-ranked escort mission. "We can start with that and work ourselves up." Sarutobi stated as he leaned back in his chair before calling over one of his attendants. "Call for Tazuna." Nodding, the aide left to find the individual that was specified. "Kakashi, I'm granting Team Seven permission to take this C-ranked mission."

Kakashi acknowledged the statement, including how his students, and Iruka's expressions changed. "Wait a minute Lord Hokage," Iruka interjected. "surely you're not considering this?!"

"Relax Iruka, this mission is a simple task." Sarutobi mentioned as Kakashi received a nod. "Team Seven is to escort their client, Tazuna, to the Land of Waves so that he may complete the construction of his bridge." The team seemed interested now. This was going to be the first time Naruto and Sasuke were going outside the village walls, and they were anxious.

With excitement filling the room it would become apparent that Naruto would remain tied up. However, Kakashi did remove the tape over his mouth. "YES!" Naruto exclaimed in glee. "Thanks a bunch, old man I won't let you down!" Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's antics as he waved it off.

"Don't thank me yet Naruto. You might find this a bit much even for you." Sarutobi mentioned passively. Naruto looked up at the elder with confusion, though he passed it off as nothing. Instead his attention was quickly directed towards a new voice.

"What the hell?! This is my escort?!" A new voice sprung forth. Looking over towards the source the genin saw the visage of a man drunk off his rocker. "I asked for shinobi not some wet behind the ears brats!" The three genin took offense to the statement. Naruto was seemingly ready to assault the man.

"Ah, Tazuna-san this is the group that will be escorting you back to your home." Sarutobi mentioned. "If you're wishing for a team of higher caliber then perhaps you should increase the price to where it becomes a B-Rank instead?"

"Heh, like that is necessary." Tazuna stated as he wiped the side of his mouth. Looking back over at the genin and their sensei Tazuna seemed to be contemplating. Sighing he turned to leave the office. "They'll do."

The remaining individuals watched as the sourly man walk out of the room. Panning back to Team Seven Sarutobi looked up at Team Seven. "Well Kakashi, I look forward to the report." Sarutobi expressed to Kakashi, who nodded in response. Team Seven then took their leave from the Hokage's office leaving only Sarutobi, his aids, and Iruka.

"Lord Hokage, why did you grant them a C-ranked mission?!" Iruka felt that he needed to be vocal on what he saw as an issue.

"They wanted a mission that would aid in their progression as shinobi, so I granted them one." Hiruzen stated as he breathed in smoke from his pipe.

"That may be so, but that mission is questionable. It was placed aside for further investigation." Iruka pointed out. "What if it isn't a C-rank like Tazuna claims it to be!?"

"Then whatever happens will fall on me." Hiruzen replied. "I chose to give them that very mission for the experience it would give them."

"But the Land of Waves is currently under the heel of Gato and his mob, surely you must remember that!" Iruka blurted out.

"Hardly something to worry about." Sarutobi mentioned as he sat back in his chair and read copies of the document for said mission.

"How can you not be concerned for their safety?! Yes they have Kakashi, but there are talks that he has shinobi under his pay!" This just made Sarutobi chuckle. "Lord Hokage, you surely didn't mean to give that mission for such an experience?" Iruka felt dread seep into his stomach at the though of what he was learning.

"Hardly Iruka, I'm chuckling because you've failed to realize something." Iruka was confused. Did he miss something during the exchange or was the old Hokage before him playing a game on him?

"There is nothing to worry about, just have faith and everything will be alright." Sarutobi reassured him. 'No, there is nothing to fear. Especially so long as Kakashi is able to mask the truth that is.' A sudden thought came to mind though. 'Perhaps I shouldn't dwell on the double irony of that last thought.'

* * *

Outside the Hokage tower Kakashi instructed his genin on what they should do. They were to meet him and Tazuna at the village gate tomorrow morning. Instructing them on what to take and to also inform their family before departing. Once that was done he left them in front of the tower to go about the rest of his day.

"Did he just leave us without untying me!" Naruto roared as he attempted to break free of his bindings.

"Well you did almost cause a scene with the Daimyo's wife." Karin pointed out as she started to untie him. "Though I'm more curious as to why he lied about our progress in his reports."

"Yeah, what was that all about!" Naruto complained.

"Something is obviously up." Sasuke pointed out while gaining the two's attention. "Our information is being withheld from certain ears." This caught their attention. "Normally it would make sense to elevate a genin team to a higher mission tier if they've shown the necessary progress."

"Yet, Kakashi is purposely holding us back." Karin remarked.

"Well he wasn't entirely lying." Naruto mentioned. "He did tell the truth about Sasuke." This resulted in him getting hit in the head by Karin and a glare from Sasuke. "What!? Don't tell me you haven't noticed it Karin!?"

"Trust me when I say that normally I wouldn't want help from other people, however, you two are skilled genin. I personally acknowledged that fact." Sasuke admitted shocking Naruto. "Though you in particular are annoying, you can certainly hold your own."

"You're just saying that because I kicked your ass aren't you." Naruto smirked with Sasuke's left brow twitching in response.

"No, it is not because of that, rather you are able to assist me in becoming stronger." Sasuke corrected with a slight scowl.

"Oh, and why is that you want to be stronger?" Naruto asked in return.

"None of your business." Sasuke mentioned.

"Hey, bring it back in you two." Karin interjected. "We are currently on a timeframe. Now we don't know why it is that our information is being masked, however, there might be a way to discover why."

"Are you sure it isn't because we tried looking at what was underneath Kakashi's mask two weeks ago?" Naruto asked as he finally stretched his arms out. Karin had finished untying him, so he was free to stretch his upper body.

"If you remember correctly he got us back by making us do Tora several times." Sasuke informed them. He noticed the fiery hatred that reverberated in his teammates' eyes. "Nonetheless, I don't think this would be something that Kakashi would do himself."

"You think that someone is making Kakashi do this?" Karin questioned. Sasuke nodded causing her to reflect on it.

"Why would anyone do that in the first place?" Naruto thought aloud before noticing the concluding looks on his teammates' faces. "You figured out didn't you."

"Think about it Naruto, who is the only one who can openly order Kakashi to change his reports to withhold information." Karin started. "Who is the only one that would let Kakashi do it and get away from it."

Naruto paused to think on it. Upon thinking about the possibilities his mind concluded. Shock graced his face as he looked back up at his teammates. "Old man," Naruto trailed off before getting nods from the other two.

"Lord Hokage is withholding information on us for some reason or another, and I want to know why." Sasuke stated.

"Before we can do anything we have worry about our mission to the Land of Waves." Karin brought up. "So, for now let's hold off on doing anything until we get back."

"Seems reasonable." Naruto pointed out and Sasuke seemed to agree.

"For now, let's get ready for tomorrow." Karin mentioned. The three genin of team seven then discussed what they would bring for reassurance. Once that was done they split apart and made their way to their homes.

* * *

The following morning came quickly. The genin of team seven were all awaiting their sensei and their charge. Arriving earlier to discuss somethings in private before their mission the group noticed their sensei making his way over with Tazuna.

"Yo, you're early." Kakashi pointed out. "Anxious for the mission, are we?"

"We decided to show up early to make sure we had everything situated is all." Karin answered. Kakashi's passive expression didn't discern his thoughts, much to the avail of the genin.

"Well I'm glad you three are starting to take initiative in your career." Kakashi eye smiled at them. Looking over towards Tazuna Kakashi noticed the man seemed slightly anxious. Something that he noted. "Alright Tazuna, we're ready to take you back to the Land of Waves."

"Good, I have much to do once I get back, so let's hurry up." Tazuna stated. With that team seven began their first C-rank mission. Each of the genin exchanging a look before focusing their gaze forward. Noting the exchange Kakashi was curious to see how far his genin would go.

* * *

 **Alright everyone there is chapter nine. Now I apologize for it being a little short, though I'll reiterate my previous statement. I wanted to focus more on progressing the plot into the Land of Waves arc, so I focused on that. Next chapter will be longer than this one and will focus on reaching the Land of Waves.**

 **Now I don't know what I should explain about this chapter, so if you have any questions then send me a PM or leave it in the review. Alright everyone I'm going to leave it here. I'm currently dealing with a stomach virus, so I'll see you next time. Peace!**


	10. The Wavering Road

**Hello everyone, my name is Shin Aedra and this is chapter 10 of VGD. Well the next milestone was achieved, albeit the first of many. The Land of Waves has begun after quite a substantial time, though now I can feel relieved. I don't see this arc changing much except in a few areas. It will parallel cannon though I will take some liberties. Please don't expect anything to grandiose this is only the Land of Waves.**

 **I'm currently planning the Chunin Exams and I'm not sure if I'll keep it primarily cannon. The Naruto and Neji fight I feel is important. It helped Neji realize that he was only hurting himself and overall projected a nice moral lesson. However, for the life of me I'm not sure if I want to keep it or go with another idea. I find it funny I'm struggling with one of the "cannon" arcs of the story, while the other arcs are primarily set. I guess I'm just wanting to do something different from the norm I guess. Let me know what you guys think I should do. The Land of Waves will only be a few chapters, so counting the last one there are only three or four more chapters.**

 **Finally, I'm going to start some side projects. I have one already up, though I'm going back to edit it. Its called Fate/Shadows. It takes the concept of the Holy Grail War from Fate/Stay Night and applies it to the Naruto universe. It is a slight AU, but only due to adding the concept. It's not really a crossover either since all the characters are from Naruto. (Shameless Advertisement I know :P )**

 **Either way I have nothing left to cover so on to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: The following is a fan fiction parody, Naruto is owned by Massashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, TV Tokyo, Viz Media and Shueisha; Godzilla is owned by Toho Pictures, please support the official release!**

* * *

Chapter 10: The Wavering Road

* * *

Walking down a road, Team Seven, accompanied by Tazuna, were making their way to Wave. Surrounded by forest on either side of them it had only been a few hours since they departed from the village. Moving in formation, Team Seven circled Tazuna to ensure his safety. In the front Sasuke took charge keeping his eyes sharp. On Tazuna's right was Naruto. He had been rather lax in his guard or, so his appearance would seem. With relaxed posture, Naruto had his arms behind his head. Shifting his gaze often towards the forest on his right to secure the group's right flank.

Adjacent to Naruto, on the other side of Tazuna, Karin was watching the left flank. Unlike Naruto she was more vigilant in her duty. Keeping her hand close towards her kunai pouch always. Finally, in the back was Kakashi. Complacent with his favorite book in his hand while masking her keen perception. Taking an upwards glance every so often to check his genin.

"Is it just me or does this seem rather anticlimactic?" Naruto asked the group.

"Well it is a C-rank Naruto." Kakashi pointed out.

"Yeah, but I figured that there would be more going on than just this." Naruto admitted.

"A C-rank mission is nothing more than a D-rank outside the village." Kakashi mentioned. This caused Naruto to whip his body around and face his sensei.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled is shocking annoyance. "You mean to tell me that the only difference is that we're outside the village?!" This caused the group to pause temporarily.

"Pretty much. C-ranks usually don't entitle much, just like D-ranks." Kakashi stated while looking at his book. "However, there is a difference between a C-rank and a D-rank."

"What besides on is inside the village and the other is outside it!" Naruto retorted.

"Partially, unlike a D-rank mission, C-ranked missions can escalate into higher tiers." Kakashi informed him. This caused Naruto to pause. "True we are technically escorting Tazuna here to his country, however, at any given moment everything could change. Outside of the walls of Konoha danger is ever lurking." Tazuna seemed nervous at the mention of escalation, though he tried to put up a facade. Noting that change, Kakashi directed his gaze at his genin. "We must be prepared at any given moment. Anything and everything can go wrong. Remember that." Nodding to their sensei the genin took the advice to heart before turning around to continue forward.

Reflecting on the words from his sensei, Naruto recalled Ghidorah's words from their first meeting. _**"you're going to need that resolve if you're going to survive outside your home."**_ Gripping his fists together Naruto steeled himself. 'I need to utilize my resolve just like that overgrown lizard said.' Naruto thought. 'If Kakashi-sensei is right then I have to ready at all times!' Noting the change in Naruto's posture an eye-smile formed on Kakashi's visible eye.

Trudging forth the group continued for a few more hours. It was late afternoon at this point and the group were coming up to a puddle of water. Sasuke and Naruto were obvious to what it meant. Karin though looked back at her sensei and noticed an ever-slight nod directed towards her. Returning her gaze forward she slowly etched her hand over her kunai pouch.

Passing the small puddle neither of the remaining members seemed to not have taken notice of it. After passing it by a few meters the puddle sprung to life. A length shuriken-styled chain quickly enveloped Kakashi trapping him in place. The sudden sound forced the group to turn around and see Kakashi trapped in the chain. Looking over to either side of him were two shinobi with the symbol of Kiri on their headbands. The group noted that the two of them were wearing a gauntlet that connected the chain to both.

Before any of the genin could do anything to assist their sensei the chain retracted, slicing Kakashi into two. "One down, three to go." The one stated. Quickly shifting into combat, the genin closed in towards Tazuna to protect him. Disappearing in a blur Naruto's senses kick in before shifting his gaze towards his left. He noticed one of the two was directly beside him and that the chain was now coming towards him.

A kunai quickly forced the assailant back. Sighing in slight relief Naruto eyed the man carefully. "Thanks, Sasuke." Sasuke hummed his response as he eyed the two men.

"Hm, that one has good reflexes and the other one sharp eyes." The assailant who aimed for Naruto mentioned.

"Then we'll deal with both first." The other stated. Disappearing once again Naruto and Sasuke each pulled out a kunai. Swapping places, they each countered a clawed gauntlet that was aiming for the other. "Not bad, but not good enough." The chain from before encircled them surprising them. The two shinobi quickly retracted the claw to ensnare their victims. Before the chain could fully retract a kunai had implanted itself into the chain connect two loops. This had forced the chain in place. Looking over at Karin the two noticed how she had two more kunai before she threw them. Cutting their loses, they activated a release mechanism on their gauntlets to release the chain.

Free to conduct themselves without the binding chain the two were swift in their course of action. Aiming to disorient the group they moved to strike in two places. In quick response Naruto called forth five shadow clones. Taken by surprise one of the assailants was quickly pinned down before being struck across the head by Sasuke. Disorientated the assailant attempted to get up before being beaten by the clones that held him down until he was unconscious.

Unaware of what had befallen his comrade, the other assailant moved to strike at Karin. Blocking an attack with her kunai she sidestepped left to avoid being struck by the gauntlet. Moving to quickly strike at her the assailant reached out to claw at her. A sudden force though forced him onto his side as he was assaulted. Looking up he found himself pinned by the Naruto and Sasuke. Running up to them Karin kneed the assailant in the stomach before stabbing him in his right should with her kunai. Wincing in pain he then saw her raise her fist. Delivering a sharp hook to his head Karin knocked him out cold.

"Uh, was stabbing him really necessary?" Naruto asked.

"Think of it as a personal touch." Karin replied before looking back over at Tazuna. "Are you alright Mr. Tazuna?"

Looking a little bewildered at seeing the genin take on the two assailants he registered the question. "Y-Yes, I'm fine but what of your sensei?!" He asked.

"Currently debating something in my head." Came a calm voice. It startled the older man as he turned around and saw that Kakashi was perfectly fine. "Well done team you guys actually did rather well."

"Kakashi-sensei you're alive!" Naruto shouted in surprise.

"Of course, I am. Do you think so little of me?" The mocking tone in Kakashi's voice was quite evident to the group. "I merely substituted with a log to observe how well you three would fair."

"I see so you were testing us." Sasuke concluded.

"Naturally, though I will say that I'm a little disappointed that Karin was the only one to notice the issue." Kakashi mentioned. This put a look of confusion on both genin. "It hasn't rained in nearly two weeks, let alone the weather has been fair with little clouds."

"Now that you mention it, that was odd for a puddle of water to be residing there on the road." Sasuke admitted.

"Wait a minute!" Came the voice of Tazuna. "If you were alive the whole time then were you just going to let your students get killed?!"

"As I mentioned earlier Tazuna my students here are quite skilled as you could tell. Although if they were in danger I would intervene obviously." Kakashi explained. "Though I think you have some explaining to do Mr. Tazuna." The sudden change made the older man slightly nervous and the genin attentive while they restrained the two assailants. "Those two are the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. They are C-ranked ronin, whom have no reason to come after my team. Though I may have been their target there was no clear indication that we were going to have this mission."

The older man mumbled something incoherent under his breath before sighing. "Alright I give I'll tell you everything." Tazuna stated. "But please listen to what I have to say entirely before you do anything." Kakashi accepted the deal with a nod, so with that the man explained his reasoning. During this time the genin were finishing the restraints around the Demon Brothers. Looking over the equipment Karin noticed that the gauntlets were laced with poison.

"Hey, Naruto, Sasuke were either of you cut by either of these two?" She asked quickly. The two looked themselves over before Naruto raised his left arm to reveal a gash.

"Yeah, but I'm not to worried about it since we can wrap it up." Naruto stated nonchalant. Karin moved quickly over towards him to check him over. At the same time Kakashi noted her concern and paused to check on his team.

"Naruto was scratched by one of them. Their gauntlets were laced in poison." Karin explained to Kakashi who quickly inspected Naruto.

"How do you feel Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he inspected Naruto's arm. The gash was to large, but it was open slightly. A trickle of liquid was running out of the wound though. It was clear with slight traces of purple. Before Kakashi's eyes he saw what looked like small golden scales form slowly around the wound. Watching as it slowly closed. "It seems as though you were lucky Naruto. Due to your wound being open the poison is leaking out with some of the blood."

"Huh, cool I guess." Naruto mumbled. He couldn't feel any pain at all, hell he didn't he realize he was cut. Taking a cloth from Karin to help clean the injury, Naruto waited as she then wrapped cloth around it.

"Next time be more carefully." Karin warned. With that finished the team returned to listening to Tazuna. He explained the strike of his country under Gato. Going into detail as to why he needed to finish the bridge and why he sought out shinobi. His story struck a cord in Naruto and Karin. They understood pain well.

"That is why I requested assistance from Konoha. I hope you understand the reasoning behind my actions." Tazuna concluded.

"I sympathize with your nation Tazuna; however, we cannot accept this mission." Kakashi stated. Tazuna acknowledged this. "You only paid enough for a C-rank mission. In all honesty it wouldn't be bad if it was B-ranked, but this will be an A-rank."

Tazuna was filled with grief over the thought of losing this one opportunity to help his people. Getting down on his knees he bowed towards Kakashi with plea. "Please! My nation has suffered long enough under that tyrant! We can't call on Kiri due to the Civil War and we cannot afford anything higher." Tazuna pleaded. "I promise you though that once this is all over we will send payments directly to Konoha to pay off this debt."

"I'm afraid it isn't up to me." Kakashi mentioned.

"WHY NOT?!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi sighed as he faced his blond-haired student. "Why can't we help them?!"

"Naruto, this mission is out of your league. I would be fine, but you three are my concern." Kakashi explained. "I won't risk your lives over this issue."

"Then how about we take a vote!" Naruto suggested as he looked at his two other teammates. "Let's vote to see what we do next!" Looking over his team Kakashi noticed the fire in their eyes.

"Very well, let's vote then." Kakashi accepted. Raise your hand if you vote to continue the mission." Following the command Naruto and Karin quickly raised their hands. Noticing the lack of the hand they peered over towards Sasuke, who seemed to be contemplating.

"What the hell Sasuke! Raise your hand!" Naruto berated his teammate.

"Quite you idiot I'm thinking this over, unlike you two." He stated coolly.

"What's there to think about, they need our help!" Naruto countered.

"If we accept to continue the mission then we risk losing our lives. Then what do we do?!" Sasuke countered back. "I for one wish to think this over before I decide anything."

"Hm, well considering Sasuke isn't fully in on this I'd say this mission is cancelled." Kakashi stated.

"Now hold on a minute sensei, I'm not through thinking." Sasuke interjected. "I'm currently sitting on the fence, because this would be an ample time to truly test my skills." Kakashi remained stoic as the group waited on the Uchiha of the group. "If we go along with this mission we risk our lives."

"That is correct." Kakashi confirmed.

"If we survive though, we would have proven ourselves capable of much more." Sasuke added.

"Possibly." Kakashi mentioned.

Closing his eyes in contemplation Sasuke thought it over. Thinking on the risks and rewards. Deducing the best possible choice, he nodded in his approval. Revealing his eyes to be filled with resolve he faced his sensei. "Sensei, I vote to continue the mission." Sasuke announced. Getting some compliments from his teammates he smirked at his sensei who merely eye-smiled.

"To bad, my vote can veto's this whole thing." Kakashi stated. The genin were agape at the brashness. Forcibly berating their sensei, they demanded to continue. Kakashi though managed to reel them in, gaining control over the group. "Now look, you should always hear someone out completely before jumping to conclusions. I stated that my vote could veto this mission, not that I was."

"You mean…" Naruto started.

"Yes, we're continuing the mission," Kakashi stated as his students were filled with joy. "however, I want you to know that from this point on you will doing exactly what I tell you no matter what! Do I make myself clear?"

"Hai sensei!" They responded in unison.

"Very good. Now then Mr. Tazuna, let's get you up and continue our way forward." Offering his hand, Kakashi helped Tazuna up to his feet. The old man sincerely grateful to the team for deciding to continue with the mission. "Now then all we have to do is…Where are the Demon Brothers?"

The group turned to see that the binds had been cut and the two assailants missing. "What the hell?! HOW?! WHEN?!" Naruto yelled in frustration and confusion before turning towards Kakashi. "How did you not notice them disappearing?!"

"I was to busy being distracted by you three." Kakashi answered. Concern began to lay upon most of the group, though Kakashi seemed unconcerned. "There's nothing to worry about. You three could handle them and with me around they certainly wouldn't try anything foolish." Hardly enough to warrant comfort, but enough to ease their minds slightly. "Alright let's get moving. We still have a little while to go before we reach the Land of Waves." With that addressed the group made their way towards the Land of Waves once again. With a steady gaze Kakashi watched Naruto, his sight set on his arm.

A little while off, Gozu and Meizu watched. "Damn, those brats blindsided us!" Meizu cursed. Looking over his gauntlet he made sure everything was still fine. "At least they didn't mess with our stuff."

"Hmph, hardly something to worry about. Our first concern will be informing Zabuza of what happened." Gozu stated. "He won't be pleased but considering Copycat Kakashi is heading his way he'll at least appreciate the heads up."

"Yeah, well I hope this job doesn't last to much longer. I can't stand that short bastard we're working for." Meizu stated.

"We all despise him Meizu." Gozu mentioned as he started walking away. "We just need to work for him long enough to make enough money to aid in our goal of assassinating the Mizukage."

"Doesn't make this job any better." Meizu stated before getting up. As he did he noticed something. It appeared like an outline of a person, but when he went to take a second look it was gone.

"Meizu, what are you doing, we have to get back to base." Gozu's voice rang out towards his brother. Taking another quick look Meizu dismissed it as nothing before catching up with his brother. Meanwhile, ghost appeared where the two were originally standing. Directing his gaze towards Team Seven's direction a sense of contemplation surrounded him. Looking back in the direction of the Demon Brother's he thought on it. Disappearing from his spot once he made up his mind.

* * *

Early the following day Team Seven had managed to reach the rendezvous point with their transport. Taking a small transport boat, the group crossed the waters silently concealed in the morning mist. Concerned with stealth the man transporting them cut the engine of the boat about halfway across the water. Taking out an oar he began paddling the rest of the way towards their destination. With this method it ensured the least amount of noise possible.

"This mist is so thick. I can't see anything past it." Karin commented quietly to the group.

"We should be able to see the bridge soon." Tazuna mentioned to the group. The man paddling mentioned that if they moved alongside the bridge that they would reach the Land of Waves soon. Within a couple minutes they were able to see the bridge. It was huge, surprising all the genin.

"Wow! Look at the size of that thing!" Naruto thought aloud before being shushed by the group. In response he quickly covered his mouth.

"Hey be quiet!" The paddler warned quietly. "Why do you think I cut the engine halfway here?! We're trying to sneak into Land of Waves remember!"

"Sorry." Naruto whispered.

The rest of the journey was uneventful as they traveled through a water way under the bridge. Once through they had reached the Land of Waves, or rather the main island out of the chain. The boat made its way over towards the nearest dock. Stopping at it the group got off the boat and thanked the man for transporting them. Wishing luck on the rest of their journey he left them to go about the rest of day.

Making their way onward towards Tazuna's house. Taking one of the many roads in wave to do so. Surrounding Tazuna, Team Seven advanced down the path. Tension was evident amongst the group. With the Demon Brothers escape they were certain that the enemy was prepared to attack them. Suddenly, a sound caused Naruto to reach for a kunai. Tossing it into a bush the team went on alert.

Investigating the bush Naruto found nothing more than a poor startled rabbit. "AH!" Naruto exclaimed, startling his teammates. Kakashi walking forward nonchalant came over to look. "I'm sorry poor rabbit!" Karin walked and hit Naruto across the head and proceeded to berate him. Scolding him for not only nearly killing the rabbit but scaring everyone to. Kakashi looked over the rabbit though.

Its fur was white, something that unnerved Kakashi. 'It's a snow rabbit? They only have white fur during winter, when the days are short.' Kakashi deduced. Examining the surroundings Kakashi prepared himself. 'Substitution, which means that someone is here.' Spotting a sliver of a sliver his senses roared to life. "Everyone get down now!"

Following the command, everyone got to the ground just as a large sword swung over them. Traveling through the air it imbedded itself into a tree. Appearing on the hilt was a man surrounded with a sense of death. "Sharingan Kakashi, and here I thought those two were exaggerating." The man chuckled darkly. "No wonder they had trouble."

Sasuke was surprised by the new title given to his sensei. 'Sharingan Kakashi?! Does he have my clan's dojutsu?!' He thought with mixed feelings.

"To be fair it was my team that took care of them not I." Kakashi corrected. This caused an unseen scowl to form on the man's face. He had not been informed of that part from the brothers. "Though I'm surprised that out of all the people we could run into we ran into you, Zabuza Momochi."

"You don't sound pleased Kakashi, after all we've had a couple skirmishes in the past. Back when you were in Anbu." Zabuza stated. All three genin were learning far more about their sensei than before. Sure, they knew he learned under the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's dad. However, outside of that, and his "vices", they hardly knew anything about the man himself. "We can do this one of two ways Kakashi you pick."

Kakashi picked up his meaning quick. 'If he is our enemy I can't afford to hold back.' He thought to himself. Reaching up for his headband he lifted it revealing a vertical scar over his left eye. Then opening it to reveal the crimson color of the Sharingan. "Everyone, form the Majin formation and protect Tazuna!" Kakashi ordered. The three genin quickly fell into formation around Tazuna, readying themselves.

"Oh, I'm honored. I get to see the famous Sharingan right off the bat. This will be interesting." Zabuza chuckled as grabbed his blade while leaping away onto the water. A faint mist was beginning to set across the area. It wasn't thick, so everyone could still see each other, though it did impair the genin's vision slightly.

Standing on the water, Zabuza formed a stance with one hand forming the ram sign, while the other pointed vertically in the air. The water around his feet began to churn he channeled his chakra. 'He's putting a lot of chakra into the water.' Kakashi noted. Bringing up his kunai, he was ready for whatever Zabuza would bring.

"Hidden Mist jutsu!" Zabuza announced as the mist intensified. The area was blanketed in a thick mist that it even impossible to see Kakashi from where the genin were standing. A sense of dread befell upon the young genin. "Eight points." Came Zabuza's voice. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and the heart. Eight points I need to strike and you're dead." Zabuza's chuckle placed fear in the genin and Tazuna's heart. "Now how do you want to die?"

Suddenly a surge of chakra flared up and dismissed a portion of the mist away. Looking over towards the source the group saw Kakashi standing in place with a radiant glow of his chakra still present. "Don't worry everyone. I'll protect you with my life. I won't let my teammates die." Kakashi gave them a reassuring eye-smile. It helped alleviate a portion of their fear.

"I wonder about that Kakashi." Zabuza stated as the group of genin and Tazuna tensed. Standing in the middle of their formation was Zabuza. Reacting fast, Kakashi surged towards Zabuza with all his might. Zabuza readied to cut down each member of the group. Said group attempted to evade by jumping away. With a single cut Zabuza was bisected before dispersing into water. Kakashi, taken back, was cut down from behind.

Chuckling sinisterly Zabuza froze once he felt the cold steel of a kunai placed against his throat. "Hm, not bad Kakashi." Zabuza commented. Standing behind Zabuza was Kakashi. "But not good enough." Bringing his sword up for a reverse horizontal slash, Zabuza aimed for Kakashi's abdomen. Deflecting the blade with his kunai Kakashi was on the receiving end of an improvised kick to the chest sending him flying into the water. Grabbing the handle of his blade Zabuza charged forth towards Kakashi.

Surfacing from the water, Kakashi noted the density of the water around him. "A little slow Kakashi!" Zabuza laughed. "Water Prison jutsu!" Surprised, Kakashi soon found himself trapped in a sphere of water held together by Zabuza's chakra. "Heh, look at you now Kakashi. I guess that eye isn't all that after all."

'Crap.' Was the only word that Kakashi had in his mind at the moment. 'I thought I could use the water for cover, but I guess that was a poor decision on my part.'

"I told you long ago that this was my element, although you gave me a hard time while running around. Now not so much." Zabuza commented. Looking over at the rest of Team Seven and Tazuna Zabuza brought his free hand up. "Water clone jutsu!" Forming from the water source in front of them a water clone of Zabuza emerged. The genin were fearful. They had never experienced anything like this before and now they were facing death in the face. They needed Kakashi to defend them from Zabuza.

"Anyone got any ideas?!" Naruto asked around.

"Just run, there's no way any of you can defeat him!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Take Tazuna and go!"

'Easier said then done.' Sasuke thought to himself. 'So long as you're imprisoned we can't escape!'

Karin noticing the other two's reactions spoke up, "Hey, listen we need a plan to free Kakashi-sensei!" The other two turned their heads slightly, while never taking their eyes off the clone.

"Do you have an idea?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe a concept, but it calls for everything to be perfect." Karin stated. "We can't mess up at all!"

"What do you need us to do?" Naruto asked.

"First create a distraction. I'll take care of the rest!" Karin stated. Steeling themselves, Naruto and Sasuke charged at the water clone. Conjuring up eight shadow clones Naruto took the lead. Seeing this the water clone Zabuza charged forward cutting through them one by one. Naruto in the mean time took a fuma shuriken and gave it to Sasuke, who tossed it over at the clone. The clone merely evaded the weapon before cutting down the last shadow clone.

Waiting carefully Naruto and Sasuke moved out of the way as the fuma shuriken returned. This time with a crackling sound. Turning to see the blinding light of the exploding tag, the clone was caught in the explosion. "Hey, look at that we did it!" Naruto cheered.

"Get down dobe!" Sasuke yelled as he dragged Naruto onto the ground. The massive blade of the clone had just barely missed decapitating them. "Stay focus! I need some clones to assist me casting a jutsu!"

"Alright!" Naruto agreed. Creating ten shadow clones this time. Each charged forth at the water clone with haste.

"Interesting. To create so many shadow clones at such a young age. He must be gifted with great chakra reserves." Zabuza commented. "It'll hardly make a difference though."

Flying through hand signs, Sasuke was moving as quick as possible. With the real Naruto next to him he wasn't going to hold back or wait for the clones to move. Taking in a deep breath Sasuke was ready to unleash his jutsu. "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" He yelled out loud as he breathed out a large ball of fire towards the clashing clones. Surprised to a genin unleash an attack such as that the clone slashed through a shadow clone and dodged the attack.

Panting ever so slightly, the jutsu took quite a bit of his energy to pull off. "Naruto head's up!" Sasuke announced as they moved to evade another slash. Though they both received shallow cuts from the blade across their chests.

"Please kid, I killed a hundred wannabe shinobi like you in one day. Hell, I wasn't even a student back then either." Zabuza informed the two of them. "Once you've tangled with death as long as I have you learn to embrace it!"

"Then embrace it here!" Karin shouted as she cut into the water clone. Naruto and Sasuke were relieved to see the clone gone, though the anger in Karin's eyes were something else. "I leave you two in charge of creating a distraction, which one it worked, ultimately to end up with you two getting tossed around like kunai!"

"You said it worked, so did you free Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned. Looking past Karin Naruto and Sasuke could see Kakashi starring at them blankly while still trapped in the water prison. "Well why don't we just launch a bunch of exploding tags at them just like in the bell test?!"

"Do you want to kill our sensei!" Karin yelled back.

"He would've been fine look he's protected by the water." Naruto countered.

"He's not being protected he's trapped in it you idiot!" Karin pointed out with retort.

"Cut the chat we've got trouble!" Sasuke interjected as a newly formed water clone came towards them. Splitting up the three genin surrounded the water clone.

"Give it up brats I have far more experience than any of you!" Zabuza stated. Just as he was about to say something else an upward surge erupted from the water beneath him. Shifting his gaze Naruto emerged with a kunai in hand.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled as he thrusted the kunai at Zabuza. The man sneered at this and grabbed Naruto's hand. Pulling him up to eye level.

"Now then, I didn't expect that one." Zabuza stated as he saw the other Naruto disperse. "A shadow clone, interesting."

"Heh, you like that, then you're going to love this!" Naruto exclaimed as three more Naruto's erupted from the water with kunai in hand. Surprised Zabuza had little time to react. Retracting his arm to grab his blade and dealing with the clones. Tossing the real Naruto into the water.

"You little brat, I'm going to-" Zabuza paused as he deflected a strike from Kakashi.

"Took you long enough Naruto." Kakashi stated.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei. I had to make sure that he believed I was over there the entire time." Naruto explained. Naruto had been the first fuma shuriken thrown by Sasuke. Once deflected into the mist he returned to normal and tossed another fuma shuriken with an explosive tag on it at the clone. During the interval time after that he snuck into the water and bided his time. "Well do I get a passing grade on stealth?"

"Your uncanniness will suite you in the future Naruto." Kakashi stated while paying close attention to Zabuza. "Now then Zabuza I believe we have some business to conclude."

Seething at his own arrogance Zabuza flew through hand signs. 'Alright Kakashi, I'm going to end this.' He thought. Noticing what Zabuza was doing Kakashi flew through the exact same hand signs as him. Both simultaneously preparing the same jutsu.

"Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu!" They yelled out as two water dragons emerged from the water. Coiling and biting into each other the two collided in contest. Taking the opportunity, Zabuza launched himself towards Kakashi with his blade pulled back. Pushing his way through the churning water he attempted a horizontal slash against Kakashi. Jumping back, Kakashi threw two kunai at Zabuza. The kunai were quickly deflected in response.

"Damn Sharingan." Zabuza hissed. "I think I'll just end it here!" Flying through another series of hand signs Zabuza intended to end the fight. Kakashi, on the other hand, copied his movements and finished the jutsu before Zabuza.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" He exclaimed as the water churned and shot forward as a great surge. Shocked at the fact Kakashi beat him to the execution Zabuza braced himself for the incoming surge. With tremendous power the vortex hollowed out the ground as it rampaged into Zabuza. Shooting forward until it collided with the foliage. Zabuza now pinned to a tree was battered as the water ceased and flowed back to its source.

Breathing heavily Zabuza was drenched and exhausted. Moving to get himself going he was pinned to the tree by a couple kunai by Kakashi. Cursing his name, Zabuza attempted to free himself. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kakashi warned. Frustrated, Zabuza was about to reach for his blade when two senbon needles imbedded themselves into his neck. This had surprised Kakashi and the others as a masked individual made themselves known. Looking up at the individual he recognized the mask of the shinobi in question. "From that mask I take it you're a hunter-nin from Kiri."

"You're well informed, Kakashi Hatake." The boy commented. "I am apart of the pursuing shinobi unit that hunts down missing-nin." Kakashi analyzed the boy before him. He was young, though he was more than likely a little older than his genin.

'He's no ordinary kid.' Kakashi thought.

Kakashi watched as the hunter-nin shunshined over towards Zabuza's body. Grabbing it by the arm and neck he hoisted it onto his back. "If you'll excuse me I must dispose of the body." With a hand sign the masked shinobi disappeared in a shunshin. Kakashi, with his eyes still set on the boy's previous spot, let out a sigh. Reaching up for his headband he placed it back over his left eye.

Turning towards his team he noted that they looked like a mess. 'Well at least we're matching.' He thought to himself. He could only guess how he looked after today's events. "Alright everyone our mission isn't over yet. We still have to get Tazuna to his home." Kakashi trailed off towards the end as he collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. The remaining members of the group merely looked at the collapsed leader. In response a single thought graced their minds.

"I'm not carrying him." Voiced a tied Naruto.

"Neither am I." Sasuke agreed.

"And I have to ensure I'm well enough to treat everyone." Karin mentioned.

All three genin, who were looking worse for wear turned towards Tazuna. The older man just looked at them in response. Both sides fighting the silent exchange. With single line Tazuna sealed the deal. "Just remember who the client is." Sighing in defeat the three decided that Naruto would summon three clones. With them, the real Naruto and Sasuke they would carry him over to Tazuna's house. It only took them half an hour to reach the house. Once there they proceeded to drop their sensei and pass our as well. Leaving only Karin and Tazuna to be the only conscious members of the group left standing.

.

.

.

End

* * *

 **Well there we have it. I'd say it was fun doing this one. I don't know what it was, perhaps nostalgia, but I've been watching early Naruto for this one. I do apologize for posting this one a little late, but I didn't want to post it completely raw. I took my time with this one. Well it's at least a little longer than the last chapter.**

 **This arc is only a few chapters long at best. I don't plan for it to be to big. I will use this much like its primary usage in cannon. To introduce the reality of the shinobi world to Naruto. That shinobi will die working for their employers and will always live a violent life. A sad but true fact.**

 **Now I don't have much to add here, so if you have any questions just shoot me a PM or leave it in a review. This has been Shin Aedra. I'll catch everyone next time, PEACE!**


	11. Update: Regarding Upcoming Story Changes

**Hello everyone, I'm here with an update. After some serious consideration I am moving the story back to the Godzilla/Naruto Crossover section, and I will be redoing the story. I can understand some frustration over this, so allow me to explain. Over the course of working on VGD I've had conflicting issues with the narrative. Careful readers would have noticed them. At times Naruto excels, and others he's weak. Additionally, there are some plot issues I have with my narrative after re-reading it.**

 **Those of you who've followed this story since 2016 know how old it is. Following the time when someone took over mine and Apollo's profile, I was trying to copy and paste everything to this profile. I didn't really consider editing the story, as I was worried of just moving it over. It was during this time that I was asking for feedback on what was noticeably wrong with the story. After going through the feedback, which thank you to everyone who gave me feedback, much of it is indeed necessary and I have taken much of it into consideration. As such I am moving the story back to the Godzilla/Naruto crossover section because I am limiting the crossovers in the story back what was originally intended. Granted I may have other kaiju show up that are not part of the Godzilla universe, but that will be it.**

 **Another issue that has been plaguing this story has been me. During the original conceptual draft of VGD the story was to have a more mystical approach. Ghidorah was to be a god, or godlike, along with some other kaiju. I also devised a new prophecy that foretold the coming of not one but three destined children that would save the world with the powers of otherworldly gods. Now this was scrapped following chapter two. This was due to multiple issues. The concept wasn't working out and after getting some feedback from a few friends they suggested against it. Looking back at the concept I'm glad I didn't do it. There was more that I won't list off, but it just wasn't decent. So, after that point I decided to just focus on the characters. That's why at the beginning the story feels slow. Given that I did do some of that for some of the plot I understand the issue. I didn't know what I wanted to do with the story at times until around chapter seven. By then I had settled on a plot and focused towards that.**

 **There are so many issues that are more apparent to me than you, the readers, that it makes it harder for me to write. Many of the issues are glaringly obvious on my side, and I just can't continue writing this story unless they're resolved. That's why I'm doing this. Now I can do one of two things with this. First, I can simply make a new story and call something like, as an example, "VGD New", and keep this version up. Or, I replace each chapter of this story and all its chapters with the new content. I wanted to ask everyone here because I feel that there are those who've gotten invested in this story, so I'd say its fair for them. I have already been working on chapter 1. I'm holding it off for the moment to let everyone decided what will happen. However, there will be a cutoff. If nothing is decided by June 17, then I will decide what happens. I know some people are probably going to be turned off by this announcement. I can understand the frustration. Despite this whole thing I want to thank everyone whose been reading my story up to this point. Had it not been for you I would've stopped following the hacking incident.**

 **With that all said I hope to see everyone again in the next version of VGD. – Shin (Ares)**


	12. VGD Story Announcement and Release Date

Hello there everyone I apologize for the lateness of this update. I decided to wait until midnight to determine the results. To everyone who submitted the feedback about last week's post I'd like to thank you. Thanks to everyone I was able to determine the course in which VGD will take in its remake. It has been decided that I shall write a separate version of VGD for comparison. I apologize to those who wanted the prior iteration rewritten.

The next iteration will be named "Vessel of the Golden Dragon: Alternative". I can understand if people may have issues with the new name. The concept of remaking a story and naming "NEW" or "REDUX" is tiring. However, in my case I can't seem to justly conceive a better alternative. In all honesty I considered completely changing the name entirely, however, I knew I didn't want that. I apologize if it seems cliché in its name.

Regardless of that I will release it next Monday June 24. For the occasion I will be posting two chapters at the beginning instead of one. This is due to changes that will be implemented. These changes will included a darker narrative. Additionally, I will be doing something different. I will be turning back the clock so to say to a specific period in Naruto's life. His time as an orphan. This is where things will begin. Naruto will be five years old when he makes his wish and obtains Ghidorah. Unlike the base version Naruto will become darker himself. It will not be instant, but the seeds will be there at the beginning. I will also delve more into his relationship with the village over time, and how it changes. I will not lie that unlike the base version this one could easily become rated M. I know at the beginning that it will be T+. I wanted everyone to know this before the story starts.

Unlike in the base version other Kaiju might show up earlier than I had originally planned. All I will say is that someone is already on the planet prior to Ghidorah's arrival, and he might not like the company. This being said I will state that the narrative will probably have the same pace as the previous version. I plan on Naruto getting Ghidorah in the first chapter and developing his relationship with other characters before he becomes a shinobi. However, unlike the base version I plan on doing this in about five to six chapters rather than seven. I'd say that's a safe bet. The first arc should be about ten to twelve chapters, however, if I can manage it, I could possibly get it done in nine. This of course would include the Land of Waves arc. Following that will be the Chunin exams, which could be another twelve chapters. I say this just to inform everyone of the pacing at the beginning. I'd rather have everyone updated on what I plan to do so when it happens it won't be entirely jarring.

With that all said I'd like to thank everyone for the support for these past couple of years. Had it not been for that I would've stopped this story following the hacking incident. I don't know if I can get this story where I want it anytime soon, but I'll try and push out the chapters, with quality, as soon as I can. Lastly, if anyone has any questions regarding anything feel free to PM me or leave a question in a review. I will still be looking at this stories review section for any questions you might have. With that said I'll see everyone next week with the release of "VGD: Alternative"! Until then, take it easy and have a great day!

-Shin

P.S. As a treat to everyone who has stuck with me until the end. The other kaiju that I mentioned is Space Godzilla. With that I'm walking away. :) See you guys next week!


End file.
